Arkansas commit Desi Sills comes through in the clutch

Desi Sills for recruiting story/column

— LITTLE ROCK - While walking to the bench at the end of third quarter, Jonesboro junior guard and Arkansas 2018 commit Desi Sills yelled to his teammates that his team’s game with Tulsa Central was not over.

Even though they had fallen down 20 points in the third quarter, the 6-foot-1 Sills knew exactly what he was talking about.

Sills scored 13 of his 22 points in the final quarter as the Hurricane (16-0) scored 23 of the game’s last 28 points and remained unbeaten with a 65-58 win over Central in the Martin Luther King Showcase at Baptist Prep.

“I just told my teammates that we had a lot of time left and keep pushing,” Sills said. “We got some defensive stops and then we went on our run. I just put my head down and went to work.”

Jonesboro head coach Wes Swift was obviously pleased with Sills.

“He’s 6-1 and everybody says what is he going to play at Arkansas?” Swift said. “I don’t know what he is going to play at Arkansas position wise. But he may be 6-1, but his heart is like 6-7. That’s the biggest thing the Razorbacks are going to get.”

Tulsa Central was led by SMU signee Elijah Landrum, who had 29 points.

“That is a good guard right there,” Sills said. “It was hard to slow him down. He has got a great one-on-one game, but we have a great defensive player in Jonathan Adams that slowed him down late. He came out locked and loaded for that fourth quarter.”

The backcourt of Sills and Arkansas State signee Marquis Eaton - who had 13 points - kept attacking the rim.

“He and Marquis Eaton both want the ball going down the stretch,” Swift said. “When they start feeling it in them and you know that feeling as a player.

“…When their eyes start lighting up, we are tough to handle.”

Swift admits that he is biased, but he thinks he has the hardest-playing guard in the state.

“I don’t think there is anybody in the state that plays harder than Desi,” Swift said. “Sometimes Desi gets a little bit out of control, but he plays hard and he is a great teammate. When he starts making shots from outside, he is hard to guard.”

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In another game that featured future Razorbacks at the MLK Showcase, Little Rock Mills downed El Dorado 80-67.

Razorback signee Darious Hall (6-7, 210) led his team with 23 points.

Fellow Arkansas signee Daniel Gafford (6-11, 223) suffered through foul trouble with three fouls in the opening quarter alone.

Gafford, who is averaging nearly a triple-double in points, blocks and rebounds this season, had 8 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocks while only playing about 8 minutes during the game.