Arkansas’ three heralded freshmen fulfilled lifelong goals Thursday by being selected in the NBA Draft after spending one year with the Razorbacks.
Anthony Black was drafted No. 6 overall by the Orlando Magic, while Nick Smith went No. 27 to the Charlotte Hornets and Jordan Walsh No. 38 to Sacramento, which then traded him to the Boston Celtics.
Razorbacks fans all over the country wish the three nothing but the best as they begin their professional careers in basketball. My question is whether they rank high among other great players at Arkansas who turned pros?
I say no and it has nothing to do with their ability.
Most lists of Arkansas greats begin with Sidney Moncrief of Little Rock, who was one-third of the famous “Triplets” that thrust the Razorbacks onto the national stage under Eddie Sutton beginning in the 1970s. Moncrief led Arkansas to the NCAA Final Four in 1978 and the Sports Illustrated cover photo of Moncrief’s slam dunk with the headline “High on the Hogs” undoubtedly served as a recruiting tool for the Razorbacks.
More from WholeHogSports: Ranking Arkansas football's top impact players in each class
Moncrief’s college teammates, Ron Brewer of Fort Smith and Marvin Delph of Conway, also rank high on most fans’ list of Arkansas greats as do Todd Day, Lee Mayberry, Joe Kleine, Darrell Walker, Alvin Robertson, Ronnie Brewer and Corliss Williamson, who led the Razorbacks to their only national championship in basketball in 1994.
My list of Arkansas greats also includes a guy who wasn’t even good enough to play in the pros. Yet, Martin Terry came along during a time when Arkansas basketball was struggling to win even half of its games.
The Razorbacks had managed only one winning ledger in nine years when Terry led the Hogs to a 16-10 overall record during the 1972-73 season. He was named Southwest Conference Player of the Year after averaging 28.3 points as a senior and garnered an Associated Press honorable mention All-American honor in 1973.
Outstanding? Maybe not. Impactful? Absolutely.
Now, we turn to the three former McDonald’s All-Americans – Black, Smith, Jr., and Walsh – who helped Arkansas to a 22-14 record in their only season with the Razorbacks. Black, in particular, was outstanding, but Smith got injured early and played in only 17 games.
Maybe it’s just me, but I’m not putting any of the one-and-done guys on my list of all-time Arkansas greats in basketball. I don’t even have Joe Johnson, who had a long career in the NBA, on my list after he played only 1 1/2 years with the Razorbacks.
I like the guys who played here three or four years. Of course, that has a lot to do with my disdain for the transfer portal, where college athletes can now switch uniforms as frequently as Taylor Swift changes outfits during a concert.
More from WholeHogSports: What to expect from Chandler Lawson, Arkansas basketball's sixth portal addition
No one connected with the Arkansas basketball program likely cares what I think. Their job is to target young people and attract talented players to the program, which they’ve done quite well under Eric Musselman.
But as someone who’s followed Arkansas athletics for over 50 years, I’m not going to place the one-and-done guys anywhere close to former stars like Day, Mayberry and Oliver Miller, who each played in more than 125 games for the Razorbacks before they became first-round NBA draft picks in 1992.
Devo Davis, the Jacksonville product who’s coming back for his senior season and who warmed the hearts of Razorback fans when he spoke passionately in an interview after the win over Kansas, is also higher on my list than the three freshman who are gone after one year.
Guys that good increasingly use college as a pit stop before declaring themselves for the NBA. I get it.
But longevity and commitment should still amount to something, even in today’s frenzy world of college athletics.