When prompted to discuss the prospects of his returning starters for one minute, Arkansas basketball coach John Pelphrey only needed four seconds.

“ Well, we don’t have a whole lot of them. I can say that, ” Pelphrey said quickly in his opening remarks on an SEC teleconference Wednesday.

Junior guard Patrick Beverley, who contemplated a transfer to the University of South Florida in the offseason according to reports, is the lone returning starter for the Razorbacks.

Gone is 72 percent of Arkansas’ scoring from a team that went to its third consecutive NCAA Tournament and won its first tournament game in nine years. Six seniors departed, including the Hogs’ leading scorer Sonny Weems, who was picked up in the NBA draft’s second round, then traded to the Denver Nuggets, last month.

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Simply put, Beverley, who averaged 12. 1 points last season, will be relied upon heavily next season for scoring and leadership, Pelphrey reasoned.

“ He had two outstanding years, ” Pelphrey said. “ He’s going to have to continue his solid play and even grow more as a leader and encourager of his teammates. ”

Backing Beverley and Pelphrey up will be a freshman class that was highly regarded by several recruiting services. Ranked as high by ESPN. com as the 11 th-best class in the nation, Arkansas’ five freshmen and one junior college transfer still have a lot to prove, Pelphrey said.

Toss aside the top 25 rankings by ESPN. com, Rivals. com and Scout. com, Pelphrey said, because preseason recruiting class rankings don’t mean a whole lot.

After all, most prognosticators said the Hogs were a shoo-in to win the SEC Western Division last season. By the end of the season, the Razorbacks dropped seven conference games and finished second behind Mississippi State.

“ I don’t know how valuable they are in relationship to the paper they’re written on, ” Pelphrey said of recruiting rankings. “ I think a good way to evaluate a recruiting class is when those guys are gone and you can look back and see how many games you won and how much those players improved.

“ Did they make it all the way through ? Did they graduate ? Those are pretty good ways to rank recruiting classes. ”

Freshman guard Rotnei Clark of Claremore, Okla., moved to Fayetteville on May 17 and has participated in several pick-up games alongside Beverley, Stefan Welsh, Michael Washington and fellow freshman forward Brandon Moore.

Washington, Pelphrey said, has worked “ extremely hard ” in the summer in workouts and has plenty of potential next season to improve his rebounding and scoring. He was the Razorbacks’ seventh-best point-producer, with 4. 3 points per game last season.

“... We’re looking forward to see him blossom in those type of things, ” Pelphrey said.

Meanwhile, Pelphrey’s most recent signees, Jason Henry and junior college transfer Montrell McDonald, will attempt to replenish the void left by Weems at the wing.

“ Those two guys obviously are two big athletic wings and certainly provide us with a couple opportunities to answer the loss, which was Sonny, ” Pelphrey said.

“ The biggest thing for those two guys is that they’re walking into a wonderful situation here at the University of Arkansas where they’re going to have a tremendous opportunity to play and have an impact on games from Day 1. It’s pretty unique that they have a chance to do that. ” Pelphrey sees need for separate practice facility

Fifteen years ago, the University of Arkansas basketball program was ahead of the curve with the opening of Bud Walton Arena.

Today, said Arkansas head coach John Pelphrey, the program’s falling behind in one crucial area — a basketball practice facility.

“ It has been a topic of discussion and I think rightfully so, ” Pelphrey said. “ I think there is a great need for one, especially during the offseason. ”

Currently, seven SEC schools have a facility separate from their gameday arena that serves the purpose of housing practices and training sessions for men’s and women’s basketball programs. The four other schools — Ole Miss, Mississippi State, LSU and Auburn — have either begun construction or are planning to build basketball practice facilities.

Auburn has plans to build a new arena and practice facility for $ 92. 5 million. Most practice facilities in the SEC, according to the schools’ Web sites, ranged from $ 12 million to $ 14 million.

Practice facilities have provided additional incentive for recruits in choosing schools in recent years. Arkansas’ men’s and women’s programs have sole use of Bud Walton Arena for training and practices during the academic year in the afternoons.

During the season, the women’s basketball team routinely practiced in the early afternoon and the men practiced afterward on Bud Walton Arena’s one court. As a result, classes had to be scheduled by student-athletes to accommodate the practice times.

A new basketball facility with separate courts would also allow for better player scheduling in the offseason when Bud Walton Arena becomes the venue host of concerts, an AAU tournament and the annual meeting of Wal-Mart shareholders.

Athletic director Jeff Long, Pelphrey said, has entertained the idea of a practice facility and that it was on the new department head’s “ radar screen. ”

“ We’re certainly very, very blessed here at the University of Arkansas to have great facilities and I do think that a practice facility would add a lot to the mix for the basketball program, ” Pelphrey said. “ When that will become a reality, I’m not sure on that. ”