Razorbacks Routed By Heels: Seniors' Rollercoaster Ride Ends

In a lot of ways, the end of the Razorbacks' 07-08 season came just the way we thought it would: outclassed, outscored and outplayed by a team (North Carolina) with way more talent. The Hogs were ripped by the Heels 108-77 in Raleigh, NC, on Sunday, sending Arkansas home in the round of 32. But I'll make the argument that getting to the second round was---in and of itself---a step forward for the Razorback basketball program.

Amazingly enough, it had been nine years since Arkansas won so much as a single NCAA Tournament game. For a storied program like UA, that's just way too long. Of course, the demise of the Nolan Richardson era precipitated the postseason drought, but Stan Heath was unable to turn things around as coach either. In walked John Pelphrey, and with him, a whole lot of optimism about the immediate future.

Let's remember that all nine of Arkansas' main rotation players this year were recruited by Stan Heath. They had emotional ties to the man who was dismissed after last season's first round NCAA loss. And there's no doubt that Pelphrey's emphasis on discipline and conditioning---a stark contrast to Heath's easier-going approach---was a major sticking point for this crew of Hogs at the get-go this year.

But little by little, they bought in. Forward Sonny Weems elevated his game to All-SEC first team status. Center Darian Townes legitimized his NBA stock with tremendous post play. Gary Ervin, Charles Thomas, Steven Hill, Vincent Hunter---a class six deep with seniors warmed up to Pelphrey's message and ultimately played some of its best basketball together late in the year.

I refuse to let one game---even if it was a season-ending blowout loss---define what Arkansas did as a team on the hardwood this year. An 86-72 victory over Indiana in Friday night's 8/9 matchup was a significant achievement for this bunch in its own right, and something they'd never done before in the NCAA Tournament: win a game.

Were they the prettiest team to watch? Of course not. Did they maximize their abilities together? Who knows. But the bottom line is they absolutely re-established some of the dormant hoops tradition in Fayetteville. Beautiful Bud Walton Arena had become all too comfortable a place for opponents to play in recent years, and this year's Hogs turned that around by going 15-1 at home. They also finished with 23 wins, giving John Pelphrey the most ever by a first-year Arkansas coach. And they qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive season, winning a game for the first time in almost a decade.

Nobody likes seeing their team get blown out, especially in the last game of a particular season, but North Carolina really is that good. Offensively, defensively, in transition---the Tar Heels are simply a significantly better club than Arkansas this year, and it showed, playing in front of (essentially) a home crowd in Raleigh. Even if the Razorbacks had played a better game throughout, there's little doubt they still would have lost the contest by double figures. If you want to offer up some criticism of the loss, a good starting place would be last Sunday's SEC Title Tilt defeat at the hands of the Georgia Bulldogs. If the Hogs had won that game, they likely would have been a #7 or #6 seed and avoided a #1 until much later on. But woulda, coulda, shoulda only gets you nowhere, and there's no question consistency was the biggest problem this Arkansas group dealt with in its time together.

So 23-12 is the final mark for this group of six seniors, with some nice bright spots at the end of the year, including a thrilling 92-91 SEC Semifinal win over Tennessee and the first-round NCAA victory over Indiana. I feel the six departing players should be remembered as a group that persevered in a time of transition, helping bridge the Razorback basketball program to the John Pelphrey era. With so many players leaving, Coach 'P' has it both good and bad. Good in the sense that he can now stamp the program with his own player personnel mark, but bad in terms of how little returning experience he has for next year. Is all-time Oklahoma leading scorer Rotnei Clark the real deal? How about point guard prospect Courtney Fortson? Can Patrick Beverley put an up-and-down season aside and make significant progress as a floor leader? What about the lack of returning size?

All of those questions need to be answered, but we'll stow them away for another day. For now, we close the book on a group of seniors that didn't have the most success in winning meaningful games in March, but hung tough through a difficult coaching succession. (Need I do any more than bring up the name Dana Altman? Yuck.)

Sonny Weems, Darian Townes and Steven Hill all likely have NBA careers ahead of them. Charles Thomas, Gary Ervin and Vincent Hunter should all be able to make a nice living playing professionally overseas. But collectively, this rag-tag bunch of unorthodox players showed a lot of heart. By sticking together through heaps of drama and earning an NCAA Tourney victory for the University of Arkansas for the first time in almost a decade, it's an easy answer for me . . . Despite the roller coaster ride, this Razorback basketball season was a success.

-JAB