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4 Northwest Arkansas Basketball Sunday, November 4, 2018 "Daniel looked like another Anthony Davis out there," said Petty, referring to the former No. 1 overall pick from Ken- tucky who now stars for the New Orle- ans Pelicans. "Daniel is a tremendous player and freakish athlete. "What impresses me about him is how well he can move to be 6-11. He can run the floor, shoot the ball and protect the rim. He can do it all." Jones said he was impressed by Gaf- ford's all-around skills but especially the range he showed on hitting jump shots. "I love Daniel's game, just how hard he plays offensively and defensively," Jones said. "He competes really well, and he showed he can stretch the floor by hitting some mid-range jumpers — and even some three-pointers — along with scoring inside. "Arkansas is really lucky to have him back. He's going to be a big piece for their team." Jay Bilas, the long-time ESPN analyst who played at Duke, said if Gafford is able to show an improved perimeter shot it will help open up the floor for him. "It's not like he has to be Klay Thompson or Steph Curry," said Bilas, referring to the Golden State Warriors' star guards. "But just showing the ability — the threat — to make a perimeter shot keeps defenders off balance and gives Daniel a better opportunity to score from more spots on the floor." Kentucky Coach John Calipari has coached 34 first-round NBA draft picks with the Wildcats and at Massachusetts and Memphis since 1995, so his opinion on Gafford's skills carries a lot of weight. "He's a special player," Calipari said. "He has some things that the normal hu- man does not have." Gafford had a big impact for Arkansas while playing a limited role on a team that featured six seniors, led by All-SEC guards Daryl Macon and Jaylen Barford. In 35 games, including 26 starts, Gaf- ford averaged 11.8 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.2 blocked shots in 22.6 minutes as the Razorbacks went 23-12 and played in the NCAA Tournament for the third time in four seasons. Gafford is one of just three returning scholarship players for the Razorbacks along with Bailey and Gabe Osabuohien, so he'll need to put up bigger numbers if Arkansas is to make another trip to the NCAA Tournament. "Daniel's a really good athlete, and he's a tough-minded kid," Bilas said. "I've been really impressed with how well he's played and how he's improved his game. "He's going to have to be a center- piece for Arkansas and carry an even bigger load this year, because of the guards they lost. You lose guards of that caliber, it's going to be a little more dif- ficult for him. "But he's got a lot of game. I think he has the mental makeup to be a star player." Anderson said a big key for Gafford to take his game to another level is staying out of the foul trouble that sent him to the bench at times. "A lot of his fouls were of the high school [type] I thought," Anderson said. "Hopefully, with maturity and experi- ence, he'll know when to go for [a block] and when not to go for one. "There's no question with him on the floor, we're going to be a much better basketball team." Another area where Gafford needs to improve is on the free throw line. Gafford hit 85 of 161 free throws (52.8 percent) last season. That's 76 missed free throws. "I've challenged him about getting better at the free throw line," Anderson said. "He lost a lot of points there last season. "Now if he's going to be the center of attention even more, he's got to knock free throws down." Gafford said he has worked hard to improve his free throw shooting, and his goal is to hit at least 70 percent this season. "My free throws have come a long way from last year," he said. "I know I'm going to get fouled a lot and be on the line, so getting up more free throws in practice is helping me be more calm. "Before I had the jitters when it came to shooting free throws, because I always thought I was going to miss. So basically I had to get back to my old self and say, 'I'm going to make every one of them.' That's what I've been doing." One of Gafford's best games came in Arkansas' 80-72 victory over Florida in the SEC Tournament when he had 16 points on 8 of 11 shooting and 12 re- bounds. Gafford punctuated the victory with a windmill dunk with 15 seconds left on a pass from Anton Beard, then sprinted back down the floor to play defense as if it were a tie game. "I'm sure Coach Anderson is pretty pleased to have Daniel back," Florida coach Mike White said. "He's one of the best players in our league, which puts him in the conversation to be one of the best players in the country." Gafford is a projected top 12 pick in several NBA mock drafts. Forbes has Gafford going No. 9 to the Boston Celt- ics; nbadraft.net has him going No. 10 to the Los Angeles Lakers; NBA Draft Room has him going No. 11 to the Char- lotte Hornets; and Bleacher Report has him going No. 12 to the Los Angeles Clippers. Gafford v Continued from Page 2 Arkansas Razorbacks 2018-19 Schedule Date Opponent Time Media Nov. 9 ...........................vs. Texas& .....................TBD......................... ESPN Nov. 12 .......................... UC Davis .....................7 p.m. .....................SECN+ Nov. 18 ............................Indiana ................... 2:30 p.m. .................... ESPN Nov. 21 ......................Montana State ................7 p.m. .....................SECN+ Nov. 23 ........................UT-Arlington ..................7 p.m. .....................SECN+ Dec. 1 ................................. FIU .........................7 p.m. .....................SECN+ Dec. 5 ......................at Colorado State ..............9 p.m. ................... CBS SN Dec. 8 .....................Western Kentucky .......... 2:30 p.m. .................... SECN Dec. 15 ................... UT-San Antonio% .............7 p.m. ........................None Dec. 22 .........................Texas State ...................1 p.m. ....................... SECN Dec. 28 ........................ Austin Peay ..................7 p.m. .....................SECN+ Jan. 5 ....................... at Texas A&M* ................5 p.m. ....................... SECN Jan. 9 ............................. Florida* ................... 7:30 p.m. .................... SECN Jan. 12 ............................. LSU*........................5 p.m. ....................... SECN Jan. 15 ...................... at Tennessee* ................6 p.m. ...............ESPN TBD Jan. 19 ........................at Ole Miss* ...................Noon ........................ SECN Jan. 23 ..........................Missouri* ....................8 p.m. ....................... SECN Jan. 26 ......................at Texas Tech$ ................5 p.m. .......... ESPN/ESPN2 Jan. 29 ...........................Georgia* .....................6 p.m. .................... ESPNU Feb. 2 ............................. at LSU*......................5 p.m. ....................... SECN Feb. 5 ...........................Vanderbilt* ...................8 p.m. ....................... SECN Feb. 9 .....................at South Carolina* .......... 2:30 p.m. .................... SECN Feb. 12 ........................at Missouri* ..................8 p.m. ....................... SECN Feb. 16 ...................Mississippi State* .......... 7:30 p.m. .................... SECN Feb. 20 .........................at Auburn* ................ 7:30 p.m. .................... SECN Feb. 23 ....................... Texas A&M* ............... 7:30 p.m. .................... SECN Feb. 26 ....................... at Kentucky* .................8 p.m. ...............ESPN TBD March 2 .........................Ole Miss* .....................Noon ........................ SECN March 6 .......................at Vanderbilt .............. *7:30 p.m. ................... SECN March 9 .........................Alabama* ....................5 p.m. ....................... SECN March 13-17 .......... SEC Tournament# ...............TBD.............. SECN/ESPN * — SEC Game & — Armed Forces Classic at Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas $ — Big 12/SEC Challenge % — at Verizon Arena, North Little Rock # — SEC Tournament in Nashville, Tenn. SECN — SEC Network SECN+ — SEC Network Plus ESPN TBD — ESPN family of networks CBS SN — CBS Sports Network 2017-18 Arkansas Razorbacks Schedule RECORD 23-10 SEC RECORD 10-8 Date Opponent Result Nov. 10 ........................................ Samford .....................................W 95-56 Nov. 12 ........................................ Bucknell ...................................W 101-73 Nov. 17 .....................................Fresno State..................................W 83-75 Nov. 23 .................................... vs. Oklahoma .................................W 92-83 Nov. 24 ................................... vs. N. Carolina ................................. L 87-68 Nov. 26 ....................................... vs UConn ..................................W 102-67 Dec. 2 ........................................ at Houston .................................... L 91-65 Dec. 5 ..................................... Colorado State ................................W 92-66 Dec. 9 .........................................Minnesota ...................................W 95-79 Dec. 16 ............................................Troy ........................................W 88-63 Dec. 19 .....................................Oral Roberts ...............................W 104-69 Dec. 27 .................................. CSU Bakersfield ...............................W 95-68 Dec. 30 ......................................Tennessee* ......................... W 95-93 (OT) Jan. 2 ................................ at Mississippi State* ............................ L 78-75 Jan. 6 ........................................ at Auburn* .................................... L 88-77 Jan. 10 ...........................................LSU* ........................................ L 75-54 Jan. 13 ....................................... Missouri*....................................W 65-63 Jan. 17 .......................................at Florida* .................................... L 88-73 Jan. 20 ....................................... Ole Miss*....................................W 97-93 Jan. 27 ...................................... Okla. State ...................................W 66-65 Jan. 30 ...................................at Texas A&M* ................................ L 80-66 Feb. 3 ...........................................at LSU* ...................................... L 94-86 Feb. 6 .................................... South Carolina* ...............................W 81-65 Feb. 10 ......................................Vanderbilt* ..................................W 72-54 Feb. 13 .....................................at Ole Miss*..................................W 75-64 Feb. 17 .....................................Texas A&M* .................................W 94-75 Feb. 20 ...................................... Kentucky& .................................... L 87-72 Feb. 24 ..................................... at Alabama* ..................................W 76-73 Feb. 27 ........................................ Auburn* .....................................W 91-82 March 3 ....................................at Missouri*................................... L 77-67 March 8 .............................. vs. South Carolina# ............................W 69-64 March 9 .....................................vs. Florida# ..................................W 80-72 March 10 ................................vs. Tennessee# ................................ L 84-66 March 16 ................................... vs. Butler$ .................................... L 79-62 * — SEC Game # — SEC Tournament Game $ — NCAA Tournament Game NWA Democrat-Gazette File Photo/J.T. WAMPLER Arkansas' Daniel Gafford takes a shot over Auburn's Horace Spencer on Feb. 27 at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville. v Continued on next page