Apparently, Southern Illinois coach Barry Hinson hasn’t received the memo: Arkansas basketball is no longer a major draw.
Well, at least not in November against a Missouri Valley Conference opponent, and probably not the rest of the nonconference season when the most notable home opponent is Houston.
After Arkansas dismantled the Salukis on Monday, Hinson - who has coached at Bud Walton Arena previously with Oral Roberts and Missouri State - went on a rant. It wasn't about his team, but the Arkansas fans.
“That was not an Arkansas crowd," he said. "That is not a Razorback crowd....I have been here and you guys know when I have been in here, and I told our guys, 'When they bring that damn Arkansas flag out with three minutes left and you’re yelling your ass off and that can’t hear you, that is what it is all about.'
“But that is not the Razorback crowd that I know....You have got to get your butts back in this gym."
Only 4,270 Hogs fans showed up for the 90-65 win, which could have been worse had Arkansas coach Mike Anderson not shown pity on SIU. But this isn't about the game.
For those that have followed the team for years, the sparse attendance was no surprise. Apparently, Hinson was disgusted at the lack of atmosphere.
It needs to be pointed out he has known Anderson since he coached high school basketball in Oklahoma and Anderson was an assistant under Nolan Richardson at Tulsa, so he is partial to Anderson and the UA staff. Perhaps he was just going to bat for an old buddy.
What Hinson should know is that once Richardson was fired in 2002, the program began a slow and steady spiral with unsuccessful coaches Stan Heath and John Pelphrey. There was no 40 Minutes of Hell, few thrilling moments and no SEC titles, let alone NCAA Tournament runs. Anderson is doing his best to rebuild and has a promising team this year, and a great recruiting class next year, but he hasn’t enjoyed instant success.
Arkansas has only earned an NCAA berth once in eight years. There is no doubt this is a football state, and the SEC a football league. Arkansas did have great fan support in the 1990s because it won big. Any SEC school, other than Kentucky, won’t draw consistently unless its program has shown resurgence.
Arkansas is not Syracuse, Louisville, Duke, North Carolina, Indiana or Kansas – basketball schools where fans will always anticipate the season. All but Duke fill large arenas on a consistent basis.
Even against good teams, the Razorbacks have had trouble filling the 19,000-plus-seat Bud Walton Arena, leading to some speculation capacity will be downsized in a coming renovation.
There has been a call for more room on the concourse for a while to allow large touring trucks more room for concerts. There is also talk about adding more suites. If the arena could make more money in luring major concerts to the arena and donors to games, it may be worth losing a few-thousand seats.
UA athletics director Jeff Long has already made changes to the arena. Several years ago, he moved the media seating so big-time donors could have courtside seats. Each of the 34 seats was worth $12,000 per season with a minimum 5-year commitment.
That's more than $2 million in guaranteed revenue, no matter the product on the floor. The same goes for suites. This is a no-brainer.
Lowering the number of general admission seats will raise the demand - and value - to purchase them. The nonconference crowds will be less embarrassing and there will be more sellouts during the SEC slate.
We saw how the Hogs’ lone successful season in 2015 was only a drop in the attendance bucket. The Hogs were a good team, an NCAA Tournament qualifier and SEC runner-up, but the attendance didn’t harken back to 1994, except for maybe a game or two. Actual attendance was actually less that season than the year before when the Razorbacks went to the NIT.
If Arkansas went to the Sweet 16 this year, there still are thousands of empty seats for a November game against a mid-major next year. There will still be more fans worried about a football bowl game or Bret Bielema’s job status.
Times have changed, even if Hinson doesn’t understand, and this is no longer a powerhouse basketball program and no longer one of the great college basketball settings. It just isn’t.
There was more proof this week.
Nate Olson is a contributor for WholeHogSports.com