Former Arkansas and current Chicago Bulls forward Bobby Portis realized his dream of being a Razorback and playing in the NBA, and in March he realized another dream.
"I always had this vision of getting my own AAU program since I was like in high school," said Portis, who played for the Arkansas Wings.
Portis -- who played in 62 games, starting 4, while averaging 7 points and 5.4 rebounds in his rookie season, understands the benefits of playing spring and summer basketball.
"The Wings program helped me tremendously," he said. "I feel like I grew within the program. I only played two years with them. They helped me a lot. They helped my game grow. It kind of helped me become a better person."
In February, Portis met with Arkansas Wings founder Ron Crawford about sponsoring the Wings, who play in the Nike Youth Basketball League.
"It came down to the point of me already being sponsored by Nike, and I played for the Wings program, and I wanted to see kids get better opportunities to make it to college or even try and make it to the NBA," Portis said.
A few weeks later, the Arkansas Wings became Team Portis Wings.
"Once March came, we finally made it official," Portis said.
Portis, who was the SEC Player of the Year in 2014-2015, was the 22nd pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. The chance to sponsor a spring and summer team in the state that he loves meant a lot to him.
"I'm from Arkansas, I'm a proud Arkansan, and I'm a proud Razorback," Portis said. "With me being from here, I feel like I'm the next guy up to assume the role of being the next role model for kids. When I was growing up we had guys like Derek Fisher, Corliss Williamson and Joe Johnson."
He helped the Bulls go 7-0 and win the Las Vegas Summer League Championship in July, while averaging 17.3 points and 9.4 rebounds.
After the NBA regular season, he showed up at a Team Portis Wings practice in Little Rock.
"I showed them a couple of moves in the paint and showed them some of the defensive tendencies they need to learn," Portis said.
He also attended a practice for the 15-under team that won the AAU national championship and was coached by Jon Coleman, who coached Portis at Little Rock Hall.
Portis, who was teammates with Arkansas senior center Moses Kingsley while playing for the Wings, said there was never a doubt he would be a Razorback.
"I stayed home because I wanted to be one of those legends from Arkansas," he said. "I represent everywhere I go. I still wear Razorback shirts everywhere I go, and I wear it proudly."
He always honors his mother, Latina Edwards, and credits her for much of his success.
"My mom has been a great inspiration and great role model for me," Portis said.
Portis' mother still wakes up about 4 a.m. to deliver national food-brand products to local grocery stores, despite her son's good fortunes.
"That's her love. She has a passion for it, and that's something she likes to do," Portis said.
The scale for a rookie drafted at the No. 22 slot is reportedly $1.16 million in the first year and $1.21 million in the second year. Portis could've signed for as much as 120 percent or as little as 80 percent of that scale, according to the NBA collective bargaining agreement.
Portis bought his mother her dream car, an Infiniti Q80. He's looking to buy her a new house in the future.
"I'm going to wait until my next contract comes along, and I'm going to work as hard as I can the next two to three years for my next contract," Portis said.
Unselfish Sills
Arkansas basketball commitment Desi Sills of Jonesboro averaged 10 points a game on a very deep and talented Hurricane team that went 24-3 and made it to the Class 6A state semifinals.
Sills, 6-1, 170 pounds, will see his scoring average go up during his junior season and beyond.
"He's going to have the green light from day one his junior and senior years, and his point production is going to go up," Jonesboro Coach Wes Swift said.
Swift had to urge him to be more aggressive offensively last season.
"It got to the point in conference I had to tell him to quit passing up good shots, but he was so worried what his teammates thought of him and he thought it was for the good of the team," Swift said.
Sills, who shot 53 percent from the field, 40 percent from beyond the three-point line and 75 percent from the free-throw line, has a team-first mentality.
"He's one of the best teammates I've ever coached," Swift said.
Email Richard Davenport at rdavenport@arkansasonline.com
Sports on 08/21/2016