Beard looks to future instead of past

Arkansas guard Anton Beard goes through practice Monday, July 25, 2016, in Fayetteville.

— As far as Arkansas junior basketball player Anton Beard is concerned, it’s a brand new start to a brand new year and he won’t be looking back.

Beard, who started the last 16 games of his freshman season and was a key cog in a 27-9 season that ended in the NCAA Tournament, was suspended for the first part of last season because of legal issues stemming from an off-season arrest involving counterfeit money. He reached a plea deal with prosecutors and was ordered to participate in a drug court program for first-time offenders.

When he rejoined the team in December, Beard was behind and struggled offensively. His point output fell from 7 points per game as a freshman to 5.7 as a sophomore.

“It made me love it (basketball) more because I realized that it could be taken away at any moment,” Beard said Thursday while speaking to the media for the first time in more than a year. “I know now that the decisions that I make can affect a lot of people around me and in the community.

“I just have to be smart with what I do and the things that I say and all that.”


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Not only will Beard get an entire year of practice with the team this season, he is also getting in the 10 workouts the NCAA allows Arkansas prior to its four-game exhibition trip to Spain from Aug. 6-16.

He said being unable to practice with his team the first semester last season led to his subpar play. He shot 34 percent from the field and 28 percent from the 3-point line last season.

“I feel like I was inconsistent when I came back,” Beard said. “I had a couple of good games, a couple of bad games, good game, bad game.

“Coach (Mike Anderson) has talked to me about being more consistent and just being ready to play every day. Last year I just thought I was a little bit cool on the court and that just want me to bring the dawg back out like I did my freshman year.

“I was just going through the motions at time. I don’t think my mind was right. I don’t think my mind was there. I just have to clear my mind and go out there and play.

“My mind is back focused and I plan on having a great season this year.

“Everybody has been working hard this summer and we are just going down to Spain to prove a point."

Beard has certainly redefined his body during the last year.

“I have gained about 10 more pounds than what I played at last year,” Beard said. “It’s all muscle. They wanted me to get a little bit bigger. I am at 200 pounds. I played at about 192 last year…I would say that I feel way more stronger so I can take more contact than I used to.”

He is part of a Razorback team that is blessed with a lot more talent and versatility with the addition of eight new faces to this year’s roster.

“There is a lot more talent than we had last year,” Beard said. “I would say that this year’s team that can do so much more than shoot. We have more people that can shoot and attack and play defense.

“And it seems like everybody on the team can jump as high as anybody in college basketball. I would say that we are more athletic and can do a lot more this year.”

One of those newcomers is his former Little Rock Parkview teammate Daryl Macon, a two-time junior college All-American at Holmes (Miss.) Community College.

“We expect a lot out of Daryl,” Beard said. “He can come in and score the ball and just be Daryl. In JUCO, he was known as a shooter and a scorer, but you have got to play defense here and he will. We are looking for a lot out of him.”

Beard said Macon is no longer “Baby Daryl.”

“Before I decided to leave, he wasn’t Daryl, he was still Baby Daryl,” Beard said. “That decision for me was really hard. Me and my parents sit down and discussed it and we decided to go back home.

“Once I left and Daryl was doing I thought that maybe it was good thing for me to go back home and let him step up the plate.

“He was like 5-8 back then and now he is 6-4 and he grew as a person, too. He matured. He hates that name, by the way.”