FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas' women's basketball team has four players -- guards Calli Berna and and McKenize Adams and forwards Jessica Jackson and Jhasmin Bowen -- who combined to make 118 starts last season.
But new Razorbacks Coach Jimmy Dykes doesn't see it that way.
"I've had people say, 'You have four returning starters,' " Dykes said Monday while reviewing the team's first week of practice. "I have no returning starters from last year."
Dykes said he constantly has been rotating players in starting roles.
"I'm looking at everybody," he said. "They will determine who's going to start for me on Nov. 14 based on what they do the next 26 practices."
Arkansas opens the season against Nicholls State in Walton Arena after playing an exhibition game against Northeastern (Okla.) State on Nov. 9.
"I'm a long way away from a starting five," Dykes said. "The first seven days, I think we've made a lot of progress.
"I trust my team in a lot of key areas. I don't have 100 percent trust in 100 percent of them, but I'm a long way from where I was on Day 1."
Dykes said the players who started last season -- when Arkansas went 19-11 and 6-10 in the SEC -- have responded well to the competition in practice.
"I think they love it," Dykes said. "I haven't seen anyone expect anything other than that, because from Day 1, I've treated everybody the same. I've demanded the same from everybody.
"I think they know they're in a dogfight right now for playing time. They know just because they've played here in the past, doesn't mean they're going to have their name called and trot out there in the future.
"I think they've bought in really, really well to what we're trying to do right now."
Dykes praised the leadership shown by Berna and Bowen, the Razorbacks' only two seniors.
"I trust them to handle the locker room, set the tone," he said. "I think the younger players are falling right in behind their leadership."
Jackson, a sophomore from Jacksonville, averaged team-highs of 16.2 points and 6.0 rebounds per game last season. Dykes said it's time for Jackson to take her game to a higher all-around level.
"She has to make big steps, and she has," Dykes said. "She's like everyone else. She's far from a finished product for me right now, but I like the fact that she cares.
"I think I'm holding her feet to the fire maybe more than in the past. I think she's responding well to it."
The Razorbacks have 11 players, including 10 on scholarship -- five under the NCAA limit of 15.
"We don't have a lot of depth right now, but I've challenged them from to get in the best physical condition of their lives," Dykes said. "We're making progress in that area.
"We're not where we need to be yet, but we don't need to be in game shape yet. We're building toward that."
Dykes said Arkansas has to play at a faster pace to create more offense in transition and with second-chance opportunities after averaging 66.6 points per game last season. The coaching staff, he said, is working to figure out the best approach.
"If I had come in from Day 1 and said, 'This is what we're going to do,' we might be a little further along offensively, but we might be doing the wrong thing," Dykes said. "So right now we're still looking at our practice film, looking to see what's working for us and keep tweaking it."
Dykes said he prefers to play man-to-man defense, but Arkansas will go with a zone at times because of its depth issues.
"We're not going to be able to run all the time," he said. "We're going to have to grind it out some time in the half court. There may be games we have to try to win 52-51.
"I understand that, but you still have to be in top shape to win those games."
Sports on 10/14/2014