The Recruiting Guy

Boateng ready to shine for Arkansas Hawks

Little Rock Central's Annor Boateng (left) drives against a pair of Bentonville defenders during a game Saturday, Nov. 14, 2020, in Bentonville.

Little Rock Central’s Annor Boateng is looking forward to playing for the 15-under Arkansas Hawks and building on an impressive freshman season for the Tigers.

Boateng, 6-5, 201 pounds, scored 15 and 13 points in the Hawks’ two games in Memphis on Saturday. He was 11 of 21 from the floor and 3 of 5 from three-point range for the weekend.

“He’s an emerging megastar on the basketball scene right now,” said Hawks founder Bill Ingram, who is coaching he 15-under squad. “The eye test on him is unbelievable. His skill is getting better and better by the day. He’s hovering around 40 (inches on his vertical) right now.”

Boateng averaged 6.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.8 steals, 1.7 blocks and 2 deflections in 29 games for Central.

“My Hawks coaches tell me college coaches are mainly looking for guys that put in effort,” Boateng said. “Even if you don’t have the ball they want to see effort. How do you carry yourself? Your body posture.”

Boateng received his first offer from Arkansas in October.

“The Arkansas offer is very special, especially to get an offer from your own state," he said. "I take a lot of pride in that.”

He participated in the Pangos All-South Frosh/Soph camp in the fall and was named the MVP of the Black squad after scoring 12 points and grabbing six rebounds in a 103-95 loss to the White team in the Cream of the Crop Top 30 game. The event featured 219 campers from 13 states.

In the classroom, Boateng carries a 4.0 grade point average.

“My parents are always on me to come home with all As,” he said. “Making sure I’m at the top of my class. Bs aren’t even acceptable. I have to work hard.”

Boateng is likely not done developing.

“He has no hair on his face or his legs,” Ingram said. “That tells you he’s still growing.”

Ingram is excited to see Boateng improve his skillset with the Hawks this spring and summer.

“I think he’s going to be one of the next great players to come out of this state,” Ingram said. “I’m so excited about him this summer because we’re going to let him do multiple things to show his variety of skills. He’s one of those kids that can guard from 1-5. He can play 1-5.

"He’s worked on his ballhandling and his shooting. He’s just going to be a special player.”

Because of his physical stature, Boateng is often mistaken as a tight end or defensive end.

“A lot of people ask me if I play football,” Boateng said. “I take that as a compliment. I almost considered playing football at one point, but I focused on basketball.”