FAYETTEVILLE -- Anthlon Bell, Keaton Miles, Jabril Durham and Willy Kouassi combine to form a nontraditional senior class for Arkansas.
The four will play their final home game together when the Razorbacks take on South Carolina at 4 p.m. today in Walton Arena, but none of them came to Arkansas at the same time.
Bell is finishing his fourth season with the Razorbacks, Miles his third, Durham his second and Kouassi his first.
"It doesn't feel any different," Bell said. "I feel these are all my brothers. I love them.
"The past few years I've been with them have been some of the best times of my life. It doesn't matter how long we've all been here. We're still as close as any other teammate I've been here with."
Miles said the seniors will remain close.
"We're going to take our relationships here and keep them for a lifetime," he said. "We're all going to be friends 20 years from now, 40 years from now."
Added Durham, "We've had a great chemistry and great bond with each other from the get-go when each of us got on campus."
Bell, a 6-3 guard from Memphis, is the only senior who signed with the Razorbacks out of high school .
Miles, a 6-7 forward from Dallas, transferred to Arkansas after two seasons at West Virginia.
Durham, a 6-1 point guard from DeSoto, Texas, began his college career at Lubbock Christian, an NAIA school, then played one season at Conners (Oklahoma) State Community College before transferring to Arkansas.
Kouassi, a 6-10 center from the Ivory Coast, transferred to Arkansas last summer as a graduate student for his final season after playing at Auburn and Kennesaw (Ga.) State.
"It's kind of surreal, actually, because it doesn't feel like to me that I'm a senior and that my time is up here at Bud Walton Arena," Durham said. "It's really been a tremendous blessing being here for two years.
"I just wish I had more time."
The Razorbacks (16-14, 9-8 SEC) are looking to beat South Carolina (23-7, 10-7) to extend their winning streak to five games heading into next week's SEC Tournament.
Since losing at home to Auburn after dropping games at Mississippi State and Ole Miss, the Razorbacks have beaten Missouri and LSU at home, then won at Tennessee for the first time since 2006 and at Alabama for the first time since 2007.
The seniors have helped lead the turnaround with Bell, Durham and Miles in the starting lineup and Kouassi playing off the bench.
"We wanted to go out with a bang," Bell said. "We wanted to show people we're one of the better teams in the SEC and we can play with anybody, and we can play home and away."
Durham said the seniors took more ownership of the team after the Auburn loss.
"That was the start of the seniors taking it on ourselves, period, to affect the game," he said. "After you do that, then everybody starts seeing how serious you are about it, and they want to get serious.
"Ever since then, we've been turning things around. That's good, but we're not done yet."
Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said he's thankful for the growth this season from the seniors, none of whom previously had been full-time starters.
"For these guys to hold it together, that's been great," Anderson said. "You talk about your seniors, those guys are typically your leaders, and I think they've done it by example.
"The thing I like about this senior class is they're playing for each other. They're playing for the team."
Miles and Kouassi are in graduate school. Bell and Durham will graduate this spring.
"These guys have been great in the community and great at the university," Anderson said. "Senior day is going to be big for them, and hopefully we have a packed house here."
Bell ranks 28th on Arkansas' scoring list with 1,120 points, and his 233 three-pointers are fourth all-time. He's averaging 15.9 points, up from 7.9 last season. He scored 19 points at Tennessee and 17 at Alabama, including hitting two game-clinching free throws with four seconds left.
"Anthlon's one of the guys I'm really really proud of, where he came from to where he is right now," Anderson said. "When he first came here, I said he was a streaky shooter. He was a guy that may miss five shots, he may make the next five, and he's just a catch-and-shoot guy.
"Now we see him going off the dribble, getting to the free-throw line to make winning shots, learning to become a better defensive player. I just think he's grown up to be an outstanding player."
Bell said it wasn't easy the previous three seasons waiting for a chance to play a bigger role.
"I just stuck with it and trusted in Coach A and his system," he said.
Durham has 187 assists and 53 turnovers this season, including 28 and 1 the past five games, and is averaging 6.4 points and 3.5 rebounds. He ranks 15th nationally in assists at 6.2 per game.
"Jabril was an NAIA player, and now he's here at Arkansas and one of the top assist guys in the country," Anderson said.
Miles is averaging 3.0 points and 2.8 rebounds, but he is third on the team with 23 blocks. He had 5 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals at Alabama.
"I thought it was one of his best games," Anderson said.
Kouassi, averaging 2.1 points and 2.0 rebounds, has provided depth off the bench when Moses Kingsley is in foul trouble or needs a rest.
"We needed some size, somebody that could come in and play a role," Anderson said. "Willy has done that and been great for our team."
Durham said Kouassi always is upbeat, regardless of how much he plays.
"When you get to the bench, Willy will talk to you and help you, he's cheering for you the whole time," Durham said. "He's the ultimate teammate."
The four seniors will be honored during a pregame ceremony when they'll be introduced to the crowd with family members and presented a framed jersey from Anderson.
"You know it's going to mean a lot and be emotional, but at the end of the day, we've got to play basketball," Bell said. "It's still a victory we've got to get."
Sports on 03/05/2016