Level 5 chain taking on life of its own

FAYETTEVILLE — Ethan Henderson did not lead Arkansas in scoring or rebounding in the Razorbacks' home win over Austin Peay on Dec. 3, but he did make an impact.

In the sophomore forward's seven first-half minutes, he scored two points on a dunk following an offensive rebound, grabbed three defensive rebounds and blocked three shots. Henderson, a Little Rock native, provided a burst of energy off the bench that proved critical in the eight-point win.

The following day at the team's practice in the Basketball Performance Center, Arkansas coach Eric Musselman showed clips of Henderson's highlights and introduced a unique award: The Level 5 player of the game chain.

Henderson was the first to be given the chain as the player who best exemplified a Level 5 player in a win, and Saturday, following Arkansas' 98-79 win over Tulsa, it was awarded in the postgame locker room to junior guard Mason Jones, who scored a career-high 41 points and finished with 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals.

"It's so guys can have a little bit of fun in the locker room behind closed doors and amongst ourselves," Musselman said Thursday. "Obviously, the (Level 5) idea was taken from (MLB manager) Joe Maddon. I think it's something we talked about in the summer. What are you? Are you a Level 1 guy, a Level 2 guy? If you're a Level 3 guy, how do we pull you up to be a Level 4 guy? If you're a Level 4 guy, how do we get you to Level 5?

"I've studied Joe Maddon a lot and I think that concept is really good. You can tweak a little bit and use it for our guys, which is what we've done."

Musselman does not have an immediate connection with Maddon, who led the Chicago Cubs to a World Series title in 2016. But that is where Mark O'Neal comes in.

O'Neal, hired in June as the head athletic trainer for men’s basketball, joined the Razorbacks after serving as head athletic trainer and, more recently, director of medical operations with the Cubs. Working out in a team facility over the summer, Musselman quizzed O'Neal in regards to the 'Level 5' T-shirt he was wearing.

"(Musselman) said it was kind of interesting," said O'Neal, who replaced Dave England after he completed his 36th season as the Razorbacks’ basketball trainer in 2018-19. "I told him the story and he basically had me present it to the team one day on what each level meant.

"He hung it in the locker room for about 2-3 months, then he decided on his own to do the Level 5 chain."

The levels, which were written on the backs of the Razorbacks' shooting shirts for the Tulsa game, are:

• Level 1: Happy to be here.

• Level 2: Survival.

• Level 3: I belong here. I can do this.

• Level 4: Make the most money possible.

• Level 5: All I want to do is win.

O'Neal said Maddon would present the various levels to his teams at the beginning of spring training and speak to the types of players needed to win, and how to win.

"You build a team around 4s and 5s, and that’s where we all want to get to," O'Neal said. "That was just one of (Maddon's) talks, and it kind of motivated them, like, ‘Listen, you’ve got to earn it, then you’ve got to believe it, then you have buy in, and then make your money, then win.'

"Most of these guys want to go on to play professionally and this is the way, if you want to play professionally, you have to do it," he continued. "It has kind of taken on a life of its own. Coach really turned it into something now."

Jones, whose 41 points are the second most in a game by an Arkansas player in the history of Bud Walton Arena, noted that the chain means a lot to the entire roster.

"First, the chain looks good, and they really put time in to making it," Jones said. "When Ethan won it the first time, I wanted to win it the next week, so it was good to get that.

"For whoever wins that chain next, they’re going to carry it with good pride and they’re going to show it off real good."