FAYETTEVILLE — The highest-ranked girls basketball player in the state of Arkansas will be inside Bud Walton Arena Thursday night to see her future college team play the program that has been the gold standard in the sport for the last 25 years.
Fort Smith Northside star and Lady Razorback signee Jersey Wolfenbarger (6-6), rated as the seventh-best 2021 player nationally by ESPN, is excited about the opportunity to watch No. 19 Arkansas (11-6) take on No. 3 UConn (10-0) at 5 p.m.
“I think that is a game that you get more out of watching in person that on TV so I will definitely be up there supporting my team,” Wolfenbarger said. “It’s really exciting and you can see that (Arkansas head) Coach (Mike) Neighbors and the team are fearless. They are going to compete hard.
“They are not going to be like ‘Oh, it’s UConn.’ They are going to like ‘well, we’re Arkansas and this is going to be a battle.’ That is kind of what motivated me to go there - that bravery, that courage and that passion.
“It’s exciting that I am going to be a part of something that is building instead of going where a team’s legacy has already been established. I wanted to go somewhere where I could help create it.”
Arkansas comes off a 75-73 loss at Georgia.
“I think the biggest thing is they just stay true to themselves,” Wolfenbarger said. “They concentrate on what they are good at and that’s what makes Arkansas so successful. They are just fearless and their mind is just focused on what it takes to win.”
Wolfenbarger has led Northside (17-1, 7-0 in 6A Central action) to a No. 1 overall ranking in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette’s girls basketball poll.
The only loss was one to Melbourne with Northside having won its last 15 games.
“The season has been going really good,” Wolfenbarger said. “I think we are striving for perfection, but also just working at getting better every day. We understand that that perfection is nearly unachievable, but we are making sure that every rep is the best and every time we pay attention to detail.”
UConn, which has won 11 national championships, has former Central Arkansas Christian star Christyn Williams as one of its a starters.
Williams was ranked as the nation’s top player by ESPN in 2018 and Neighbors did his best to land her, but arrived at Arkansas when she was a junior.
Neighbors has since signed injured Arkansas freshman and former Nettleon standout Elauna Eaton, ESPN’s 38th-best player nationally in 2020, and Wolfenbarger.
“I think that is evidence, and we use that word a lot, that when your school is good enough and playing a good enough schedule for them to stay home, I think that is a sign of evidence that you are doing things the right way,” Neighbors said.
Baylor did land the signature of Bentonville’s Maryam Dauda (6-4), ESPN’s No. 13 prospect.
“I completely understand why Christyn Williams went to UConn,” Neighbors said. “I get it. And as bad as it hurt when I was here the first time (as an assistant), I get why Shekenna (Strickland) went to Tennessee (in 2008).
“I don’t want it to be that easy of a decision anymore. If they go there, that’s fine. We are not going to get them all. We are never going to get them all. But I don’t want it to be a no from the first day we start picking the ball up.”
Landing Eaton and Wolfenbarger as well as the program's three other 2021 Top 100 signees in Emerie Ellis (6-3) of Ada, Okla., Ashlyn Sage (6-2) of Weatherford, Okla., and Samari Spencer (5-9), should assure the program’s continued success.
“I think that is a good sign for us and I think it has to continue,” Neighbors said. “For it to continue, kids need to have success here. I think that is what continues that and I think that is what gives the younger kids a reason that they can play within a tank of gas from where they grew up and still be on ESPN. I think this is our third or fourth game on ESPN this year. It’s been a bunch.
“They can play people that have won national championships. We have played everybody except Notre Dame this season that has won a championship since the turn of the century. You have got to give them the opportunity and then they have to have success.”
The Arkansas men’s team is also benefiting from in-state talent such as freshman Moses Moody.
“You see that happening for Coach Muss over there with Moses and these in-state klds,” Neighbors said. “It takes some time because they are smart, they are educated and they understand what they need to do to keep their career going in basketball.
“I am glad we are now in the conversation with all these kids that we at least have the opportunity to recruit them.”
Neighbors was asked if beating UConn or Sunday SEC foe Auburn was more important this week.
“Listen, beating UConn would be a massive feather in our cap,” Neighbors said. “It would give us another win against a top five team, a top three team in the NET so I am not going to sit here and lie to you and say that win wouldn’t have more value. But I want to win both.
“This particular year I think the UConn game carries more value and that’s not a slap at Auburn. I think Terry would look me in the eye and say I was lying if I tried to say that it was not. We want to win them both. On Sunday, the Auburn game will become the most important game.
“I think people know me well enough I am not going to try and lie to you guys. UConn would be a massive (win). Not many programs, not many teams, especially this season, will be able to say that.”