FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas could be getting in on a trend that has become en vogue in college basketball next year.
That would be a secret preseason scrimmage, pitting the Razorbacks against another Division I team without fans.
There are around 100 that have already been played last week or will be this weekend as the Nov. 11 start date of college basketball's regular season looms.
Razorback head coach Mike Anderson, who is 29-0 in exhibition games against lower-division foes heading into one Friday night at 7 p.m. against Emporia State, said he was considering a scrimmage for next season at a press conference on Wednesday.
“It’s something that’s crossed my mind,” Anderson said. "It’s something that I may even do next year. A lot of teams are doing it and I think there’s a lot of validity to it, a lot of quality to it that you can go play some teams that maybe you’re not scheduled to play.
“We have a lot of requests for that, so it’s something I’m really looking at maybe doing next year. With this team here, I just felt that maybe getting two exhibition games would benefit them.”
A questioner noted that it would take the crowd out of the mix.
“Yeah, I like that part about it (having a crowd on hand), but at the same time, I think you can get a true evaluation of where you’re at because in these games here, like you said, I’m 29-0,” Anderson said. “When you’re in those scrimmages, you’re going to play some teams that are just as good as you or even better than you.
“You find out real quick some things you have to work on because you can tailor that actual workout in terms of what you want to do. You can have three 10-minute periods, five 10-minute periods, ‘Okay, we’re going to work on zone,’ ‘we’re going to work on this here.’ You can tailor it that way.”
Anderson admitted that he resisted the urge to do a secret scrimmage before because he likes the exhibition games and the crowds in the stands.
“For me, I guess I’m a creature of old habits,” Anderson said. “The games have been beneficial to us.”
The Arkansas coach - headed into his sixth season at the helm of the Razorbacks noted that Emporia State head coach Sean Vandiver is happy that his team is getting to come into Bud Walton Arena on Friday.
Vandiver, whose team will at Kansas on Sunday, is a former Colorado basketball star that was drafted 25th in the first round of the NBA draft by Golden State, but ended up playing nine years in Europe.
“Shaun Vandiver has been wanting to play us the last six or seven years and now he gets the chance to bring his team,” Anderson said. “He has nine newcomers on his basketball team so it’s a team that has like six or seven guys returning. We are still trying to find out who we are. And I am sure he is trying to find that out with his basketball team as well.
“It’s another free game so we get a chance to see some guys out there that hopefully will learn what they bring to the table.”