Beard ready to be a Hog

Anton Beard

When point guard Anton Beard signs his national letter of intent with Arkansas today, he’ll realize a a boyhood dream.

“I grew up always going to the Razorback games,” Beard said. “Everything was about Arkansas. That was my number one choice. Everything I did was about the Razorbacks or the Dallas Cowboys. Everybody down here likes the Cowboys and the Razorbacks.”

Beard, 6-1, 180, was the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s 2012 Sophomore of the year and an All-Arkansas selection in 2013 at Little Rock Parkview before transferring to North Little Rock last spring. He said Coach Mike Anderson was upfront with him during the recruiting process.

“Most coaches tell you what you want to hear,” said Beard, who will ink with the Hogs at a 4 p.m. ceremony at the school. “He actually sit down and described about the things that are going to happen . He actually showed me what the deal was and what he needs from me and what we need as a team to accomplish what we want.”

Beard, rated by ESPN as the nation’s 19th-best point guard and No. 92 prospect overall, had several other scholarship offers, including Tennessee, LSU, Missouri, Georgetown and Georgia Tech before pledging to the Hogs and Anderson.

“Sometimes a man doesn’t keep his word but he showed me and proved to me the truth,” said Beard of Anderson. “I feel like he’s a man of his word.”