Aug. 17
2010
Former Razorbacks Zack Cox, Brett Eibner and Drew Smyly came to terms with the Major League Baseball teams that drafted them.
Cox, an infielder taken with the 25th pick in the first round, agreed to a four-year, $3.2 million contract with the St. Louis Cardinals that included a $2 million signing bonus.
Eibner — who played center field and pitched for the Razorbacks, and was picked in the second round at 54th overall by the Kansas City Royals — signed for $1.25 million.
Smyly, a left-handed pitcher who was a second-round pick by the Detroit Tigers at No. 68 overall, signed for $1.1 million.
Aug. 18
2007
Arkansas was ranked No. 21 in The Associated Press Top 25 preseason poll, the first time the Razorbacks opened the year with a ranking since they were No. 18 in 1999.
Arkansas rose as high was No. 16 in 2007 after beating Troy 46-26 in the opener, but the Razorbacks fell out of the poll when they lost to Alabama 41-38 in their second game.
The Razorbacks weren’t ranked again until they were voted No. 25 after closing the regular season with a 50-48 triple-overtime victory at No. 1 LSU.
Arkansas wasn’t ranked in the AP’s final poll after losing to No. 7 Missouri 38-7 in the Cotton Bowl.
Aug. 19
2017
The life of Frank Broyles, the longtime Arkansas football coach and athletic director, was celebrated in a ceremony at Walton Arena after he died at age 92 from complications of Alzheimer’s disease.
When Ken Hatfield, a star defensive back and punt returner as a senior for the Razorbacks’ 11-0 team in 1964, spoke at the podium, he addressed Broyles directly.
“I thought about what you’ve given to Arkansas and for all us to be a part of it,” said Hatfield, who was hired by Broyles as head coach. “You gave us pride, you gave us hope, and you gave us confidence that in the future, in the nation, anything that happened in football, Arkansas mattered.”
Dozens of Broyles’ former coaches and players were in attendance, including former basketball coaches Eddie Sutton, Nolan Richardson and John Pelphrey.
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey was in attendance along with predecessors Roy Kramer and Mike Slive.
Vince Dooley, the former Georgia football coach and athletic director, was there, as was Johnny Majors, a former Broyles’ assistant who led Pittsburgh to a national championship and later coached at Tennessee.
“Coach Broyles always said he led a charmed life, but we know that we were charmed by his life,” said David Bazzel, the former Arkansas linebacker who created the Broyles Award to honor the nation’s top assistant coach. “His players were, his coaches were, his beloved university was, and of course the state of Arkansas was.”
2016
Former Razorbacks Sandi Morris and Veronica Campbell-Brown both won silver medals at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Morris cleared 15 feet, 10¾ inches to take second in the pole vault. She missed three attempts at 16-0¾, including her final try when she appeared to have plenty of height before her left thigh hit the bar and knocked it off. If Morris had cleared that jump, she would have won the gold medal that went to Greece’s Ekaterini Stefanidi.
“It’s really bittersweet,” Morris said. “I love the fact that I got a silver medal. I’m so happy about it. That last attempt was so close. For a split second in the air, I thought I was a gold medalist.”
Campbell-Brown earned her eighth Olympic medal when she ran on the third leg of Jamaica’s 400-meter relay team, which ran 41.36 seconds and finished second to the U.S. team, which won in 41.01.
It was the fifth Olympics in which Campbell-Brown won a medal, including two gold medals in the 200 in 2004 and 2008.
2007
Junior tailback Darren McFadden, who rushed for 1,796 yards and 15 touchdowns as a sophomore, appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated after winning the Doak Walker Award and finishing second in Heisman Trophy voting to Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith the year before.
No SI jinx for the Little Rock product, as McFadden ran for 1,994 yards and 17 touchdowns in 2007, despite missing time with a rib injury. McFadden won the Doak Walker award again, and was also runner-up in Heisman voting, this time to Florida quarterback Tim Tebow.
Aug. 20
2016
Former Razorback Taylor Ellis-Watson was awarded an Olympic gold medal when the U.S. 1,600-meter relay team led by Allyson Felix and LaShawn Merritt won in 3:19.06.
Ellis-Watson didn’t run in the final, but received a gold medal because she had run in the preliminary heat when the U.S. team advanced.
2010
Two-time Pro Bowl guard Shawn Andrews, a two-time All-American for the Razorbacks, signed a free agent contract with the New York Giants after playing six seasons for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Andrews signed with the Giants after being sidelined by a back injury for all but two games of the prior two seasons, and also dealing with depression.
After playing 13 games for the Giants in 2010, Andrews retired due to lingering back issues.
2009
Mike Nail announced the 2009-10 season would be his last as the Arkansas basketball play-by-play radio announcer. It was his 29th season on the job.
Nail, 64, said he had the “blessing” of Arkansas officials to continue working through the next two seasons to give him 30 with the Razorbacks.
“They told me, ‘You’ve earned the right to do this as long as you want,’ ” Nail said. “But then I talked to Jean [his wife] and decided that doing another season just for the sake of doing it for 30 years wasn’t reasonable or in anyone’s best interest.
“It’s something I’ve loved doing. I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything in the world. It’s hard to do, giving it up, and I know it’s going to be an emotional time for me this season. But I just feel like it’s time.”
Chuck Barrett replaced Nail.
2002
Kansas City third baseman Kit Pellow, a former Razorback, hit his first MLB home run in the Royals’ 6-5 victory over Toronto.
Pellow played in 99 big-league games for the Royals and Colorado Rockies and hit four home runs.
Aug. 21
2016
Boston rookie Andrew Benintendi, a national player of the year for the Razorbacks in 2015, hit his first career home run off Detroit reliever Shane Greene in the Tigers’ 10-5 victory over the Red Sox.
“That was pretty cool, especially because my family was here to see it,” Benintendi said. “I wasn’t sure it was going to get out until I saw [Tigers right fielder] J.D. [Martinez] give up on it.”
Earlier in the game, Benintendi hit his first career triple against Detroit ace Justin Verlander.
Aug. 22
2007
Arkansas signees Brett Eibner and Andy Wilkins turned down offers from MLB teams to play for the Razorbacks.
Eibner, a pitcher and outfielder from The Woodlands, Texas, turned down the hometown Houston Astros as a fourth-round pick. Wilkins, a first baseman from Broken Arrow, Okla., turned down the Texas Rangers, who drafted him in the 25th round.
Eibner and Wilkins both became key players and were drafted again in 2010, with Eibner going to the Kansas City Royals in the second round and Wilkins to the Chicago White Sox in the fifth round. Both have played briefly in the Major Leagues.
2004
Former Razorbacks Matt Hemingway and Deena Drossin Kastor both won Olympic medals in Athens, Greece.
Hemingway cleared 7 feet, 8 inches to take second in the high jump and earn a sliver medal.
“It seems like just a dream right now,” Hemingway said. “I knew it was possible, but it’s just amazing.”
Hemingway, a four-time All-American and 1995 SEC champion, said before the Olympics began this would be his last competition. It capped an up-and-down career that included a two-year hiatus. He didn’t compete in 1998 and 1999 after he became burned out, quitting to become a rafting guide on the Arkansas River.
“When people start complaining about winning a silver medal, it’s time to start checking their heads,” Hemingway said. “To get any Olympic medal, you have to be ready to play a hard game with a lot of blood, sweat and tears.”
Kastor took third in the marathon in 2 hours, 27 minutes and 20 seconds to earn a bronze medal.
”I burst into tears as soon as I heard the announcer say I was in third place,” said Kastor, who was 12th at the halfway point. ”I didn’t know if I was fourth or third. But when I heard that, I just lost all my emotion. I couldn’t contain myself.”
Aug. 23
2016
The film “Greater,” a depiction of the life of Brandon Burlsworth, debuted in Fayetteville at the Malco Razorback Theater.
Brian Rendl worked 11 years to create the biopic, which told the story of the Harrison native, who walked on at Arkansas. Burlsworth developed into an All-SEC and All-American player, and he was a key figure on the 1998 team’s 9-0 start under Houston Nutt.
The film was directed by David Hunt and starred Chris Severio as the overachieving Burlsworth, who died in a car wreck on April 28, 1999, at age 22 after being selected in the third round of the 1999 NFL Draft by the Indianapolis Colts.
2015
Arkansas was ranked No. 18 in the The Associated Press Top 25 preseason poll after coming off a 7-6 season that was capped by a 31-7 victory over Texas in the Texas Bowl.
The Razorbacks dropped out of the poll after losing to Toledo 16-12 in the second game.
Arkansas wasn’t ranked again the rest of the season, but the Razorbacks won six of their last seven games and finished 8-5 with a 45-23 victory over Kansas State in the Liberty Bowl.
2010
The Brandon Burlsworth Trophy, honoring the legacy of the late Razorback All-American offensive lineman and presented annually to the nation’s top player who began his career as a walk-on, was unveiled at a news conference at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
After a modest beginning, the Burlsworth Trophy now receives national attention as one of college football’s top awards.
Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield, the 2017 Heisman Trophy winner and No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns, was a two-time Burlsworth Trophy winner in 2015 and 2016.
2007
Clemson athletic director Terry Don Phillips, a former Arkansas football player and administrator, announced he was not a candidate to be the next Razorbacks athletic director and succeed Frank Broyles.
“After considerable personal reflection, I wish to end the speculation about the athletic director’s position at the University of Arkansas,” Phillips said in a statement on Clemson’s website. ”To be very clear, it is important to note that the University of Arkansas has not contacted me. I am, however, humbled and grateful for the Razorback fans and friends who have called and written.”
Jeff Long was hired from Pittsburgh to replace Broyles, who retired in December 2007.
Phillips, who made Dabo Swinney Clemson’s interim coach during the 2007 season and then retained him, retired in 2012. He continues to live in Clemson, S.C.