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2 Northwest Arkansas Basketball Sunday, November 4, 2018 FAYETTEVILLE — While NBA teams were in the midst of the opening week of their seasons Oct. 17, Daniel Gafford sat in a ballroom at a posh ho- tel in Mountain Brook, Ala., answering questions. It was SEC media days, and Gafford was representing the University of Ar- kansas along with teammate Adrio Bai- ley and coach Mike Anderson. Gafford, a 6-foot-11 sophomore from El Dorado, could have been on one of those NBA teams. After a freshman season in which he showed off an impressive mixture of size, athleticism, speed and skill — along with a 7-4 wingspan — Gafford was projected to be a first-round draft choice by virtu- ally every website that covers the NBA. So among the questions Gafford an- swered at SEC media days was: Daniel, what in the heck are you doing here instead of playing for an NBA team and making $4 million to $5 million over the next two years? Gafford chuckled and said he's never had any second thoughts about turning down the NBA and returning to Arkan- sas for his sophomore season. "I made the decision; it was final, and I'm here now," he said. "I'm 100 percent behind it. "I'm all in at Arkansas." Gafford could have entered his name into the draft, attended the NBA scout- ing combine, gotten feedback from pro- fessional scouts and team executives and still retained his college eligibility by not signing with an agent, but he didn't even take those steps. Instead on the first day classes re- sumed at Arkansas after spring break, Gafford told Anderson he'd be sticking with the Razorbacks. "I wasn't worried about testing the waters," Gafford said. "I just wanted to come back so I could get my mind ready to focus on maturing and being a lead- er of the team and worrying about this season. "Because of the way I work, if I work hard enough, I can be a great player here and then have a career in the NBA. I can have all of that." Anderson said there's no doubt Gaf- ford could have been a first-round pick after last season but that he knows he needed to work on his game. "That's a testament to the kid and his family," Anderson said. "He wants to get better, and he understands he's got to improve. He came to that realization, and I'm happy he did." South Carolina coach Frank Martin applauded Gafford's decision to stay in college for at least one more season. "Some people are like, 'Why didn't he go to the NBA?'" Martin said. "I'm happy that young man is at a place where the culture around him is so good that he didn't want to leave. He wanted to stay there and continue to grow — because I saw the growth as an opposing coach. "It's a credit to Mike Anderson and his staff, the way Daniel kept getting bet- ter as the year went on. When the year started he was just kind of a guy that ran the floor and rebounded. "By the end of the year he had be- come an offensive problem for you to deal with, too. "Whenever January gets here and we're starting to work on conference play, I'm going to lose a lot of sleep when I know we've got to line up and play against him." Alabama coach Avery Johnson played point guard in the NBA for 17 seasons and was an NBA head coach for seven years with the Dallas Mavericks and Brooklyn Nets. "Daniel has lottery pick talent, and he fits the profile for a lot of the big guys playing in the NBA right now," Johnson said. "He's very competitive on both ends of the floor with the way he can run and jump and screen and move, switch on pick-and-rolls. You can utilize him in so many ways." Alabama's John Petty and Herbert Jones were among 25 college players along with Gafford who participated at the Nike skills camp last summer in Los Angeles. BACK IN THE BUD Gafford puts NBA on hold, returns for sophomore season AT A GLANCE DANIEL GAFFORD HEIGHT 6-11 CLASS Sophomore POSITION Forward NOTABLE Averaged 11.8 points, 6.2 re- bounds, 2.7 blocked shots as a true fresh- man last season. … Helped lead the Ra- zorbacks to the NCAA Tournament. … Was a projected first-round draft pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, but decided to return to Arkansas to improve his game. … Had a double-dou- ble in SEC Tournament win over Florida with 16 points and 12 rebounds. BOB HOLT ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE NWA Democrat-Gazette File Photo/BEN GOFF • @NWABENGOFF Daniel Gafford dunks during Arkansas practice March 15 ahead of the first round games of the NCAA Tournament at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. See GAFFORD, Page 4