FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson has a message for basketball fans after the Razorbacks 16-16 finish, including 9-9 in SEC play, in his fifth year on the job.
"That ain't the standards here and I know that," Anderson said Thursday. "I get that.
"But I also caution people, 'Don't panic. Don't panic.' "
To make sure the "Don't panic" directive resonated, Anderson said the phrase five times during a news conference.
Anderson met with the media to talk about Scotty Thurman's promotion to assistant coach and All-SEC center Moses Kingsley's decision to withdraw his name from the NBA Draft and return to Arkansas for his senior season, but he also took the opportunity to defend his program and declare better days are ahead.
"When you talk about recruiting, you talk about the guys coming back, you talk about the guys that are graduating, you talk about the [Academic Progress Rate], you talk about all the things that are taking place in our program, the next step is next year I'm trying to win a national championship," Anderson said. "It's a given that we're going to be in the [NCAA] Tournament.
"That's a given, so that's going to be our quest this year."
It's "a given" the Razorbacks will be in the NCAA Tournament?
Anderson was asked whether he was guaranteeing an NCAA Tournament appearance for his team.
"What I said is, my goal is to win a championship every year," Anderson said. "OK? So in my mind, getting to the tournament, that's a given.
"Does that make sense? You know this year? My mindset was, we're going to the tournament. Because my mindset is to win a championship. That's every single year."
Arkansas' only NCAA Tournament appearance in Anderson's five seasons -- and in the past eight years for the program -- was in 2015 when the Razorbacks finished 27-9.
In addition to seniors Ky Madden and Alandise Harris, the Razorbacks lost sophomore forward Bobby Portis and junior guard Michael Qualls from the 2014-15 team when they entered the NBA Draft.
Portis, the SEC player of the year, was a first-round draft pick by the Chicago Bulls. Most draft analysts projected Qualls to be a second-round pick, but he wasn't drafted after tearing knee ligaments during a workout with the Phoenix Suns.
"Just think the team that we had set up with Bobby and Mike here," Anderson said. "If they're still here, our record is not what it was this past year."
Arkansas had more roster issues last summer when forward Jacorey Williams was dismissed, guard Anton Beard -- the Razorbacks' only returning starter -- was suspended for the first nine games and missed four months of workouts and practices, and freshman forward Ted Kapita, rated among the top 70 recruits in the nation, was ruled academically ineligible.
Anderson said the Razorbacks were counting on Williams, a 6-8 senior who is now at Middle Tennessee State, to fill the void inside.
"You look at a guy like Jacorey Williams, I mean, it was his year," Anderson said. "So you don't have that."
With so much roster turnover, the Razorbacks were picked to finish 11th or worse in the SEC in several preseason polls. They tied Florida for eighth place.
"We incurred some things that hadn't happened before," Anderson said. "So now the team had to recalibrate. Given those circumstances, I thought our guys did well."
The Razorbacks were 4-8 in games that were decided by four or fewer points or went into overtime. They lost three overtime games in a season-- at Dayton, to Mercer in North Little Rock and at Georgia -- for the first time.
"The difference in some of those games was probably a possession," Anderson said. "It changes a whole lot of things."
Anderson, who is 102-64 at Arkansas and has a 302-162 record overall in 14 seasons, said he's confident the Razorbacks are trending in the right direction after last season's struggles.
The Razorbacks have three of their top four scorers back in guard Dusty Hannahs (16.5 points), Kingsley (15.9) and Beard (7.0).
Junior college All-American guards Jaylen Barford and Daryl Macon lead the signees along with junior college forward Arlando Cook.
Forward Dustin Thomas, a fourth-year junior, is eligible to play after transferring from Colorado and redshirting.
"That's why I said, 'Don't panic,' " Anderson said. "We've got a top 20 class coming in. We've got some upperclassmen."
Anderson said the formula for building a consistent winner isn't complicated.
"You get players, you develop players, you win," he said. "I think it's pretty simple there."
Sports on 05/13/2016