Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1181012
Sunday, November 3, 2019 11 Northwest Arkansas Basketball A R K A N S A S M E N ' S B A S K E T B A L L C A P S U L E S ADRIO BAILEY CLASS: Senior HEIGHT: 6-6 WEIGHT: 222 POSITION: Forward HOMETOWN: Campti, La. HIGH SCHOOL: Lakeview LAST SEASON: Averaged 5.6 points and 3.0 rebounds. THE SKINNY: Bailey is the only Razorback going into his fourth season in the program. He's a good athlete who runs the floor well but needs to limit his perimeter shots after hitting 2 of 12 3-pointers last season. He figures to play a key role as one of the team's taller players and needs to utilize his strengths of rebounding, playing defense, moving the ball and finishing around the basket. JIMMY WHITT CLASS: Fifth-year senior HEIGHT: 6-3 WEIGHT: 175 POSITION: Guard HOMETOWN: Columbia, Mo. HIGH SCHOOL: Hickman LAST SEASON: Averaged 12.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and 4.0 assists as a junior at SMU. THE SKINNY: Whitt is finishing his career at Arkansas after also starting it with the Razor- backs as a freshman during the 2015-16 sea- son. After averaging 6.1 points in 17.2 minutes with 10 starts in his first go-around at Arkansas, Whitt transferred to SMU, where he started 66 games and averaged 33.2 and 35.1 minutes the previous two seasons after redshirting. Whitt is a good ball-handler and exceptional rebounder for a guard, but he's hit just 16 of 65 on 3-pointers in his college career. JEANTAL CYLLA CLASS: Fifth-year senior HEIGHT: 6-7 WEIGHT: 215 POSITION: Forward HOMETOWN: Lake Worth, Fla. HIGH SCHOOL: Lake Worth LAST SEASON: Averaged 13.7 points and 4.6 rebounds as a junior at North Carolina-Wilm- ington. THE SKINNY: Cylla is a graduate transfer who should help the Razorbacks with his all-around game. He hit 33 of 106 3-pointers last season but also will need to help inside and guard bigger players at times with Arkansas' lack of size. He has played in 96 games, including 86 starts, at Florida Atlantic as a freshman and in two seasons at UNC-Wilmington, so he's got plenty of experience. He's a career 78.5% free-throw shooter (212 of 270). MASON JONES CLASS: Junior HEIGHT: 6-5 WEIGHT: 200 POSITION: Guard HOMETOWN: DeSoto, Texas JUNIOR COLLEGE: Connors (Okla.) State College LAST SEASON: Averaged 13.6 points and 3.9 rebounds. THE SKINNY: Jones made a quick transition from JUCO ball to the SEC last season and twice scored 30 points — against Florida and Missis- sippi State. He hit 76 of 208 3-pointers (36.5%). He struggled at times with consistency and twice shot 1 of 10 from the field against Texas A&M and Ole Miss. As one of the Razorbacks' bigger guards, they'll need him to be a strong rebounder. He needs to get to the free-throw line as much as possible after hitting 115 of 143 attempts (80.4%) last season. JALEN HARRIS CLASS: Redshirt junior HEIGHT: 6-2 WEIGHT: 166 POSITION: Guard HOMETOWN: Wilson, N.C. HIGH SCHOOL: Word of God Christian Acad- emy LAST SEASON: Averaged 7.6 points, 5.6 as- sists and 2.9 rebounds last season. THE SKINNY: Harris had 189 assists and 66 turnovers to rank second in the SEC and 15th nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio at plus-2.9. He can push the ball and penetrate to get to the basket or dish off to teammates, but needs to improve his perimeter shooting after hitting 8 of 69 (11.6%) 3-point attempts last season. Harris worked hard on his jump shot in the off-sea- son and said he's changed his technique and is now going straight up rather than leaning back, which has helped his accuracy. He transferred to Arkansas after playing at New Mexico as a freshman. JD NOTAE CLASS: Junior HEIGHT: 6-2 WEIGHT: 185 POSITION: Guard HOMETOWN: Covington, Ga. HIGH SCHOOL: Newton LAST SEASON: Averaged 15.4 points and 6.2 rebounds at Jacksonville (Fla.) University. THE SKINNY: Notae is redshirting this season after transferring from Jacksonville, where in 60 games the previous two seasons he played in 60 games and averaged 15.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.7 steals. He showed an ability to score against high level competition with 17 points against Notre Dame and 15 against In- diana last season and 22 against Michigan and 19 against North Carolina State as a freshman. ABAYOMI IYOLA CLASS: Junior HEIGHT: 6-9 WEIGHT: 210 POSITION: Forward HOMETOWN: Atlanta HIGH SCHOOL: Green Forest-McCalep Chris- tian Academy LAST SEASON: After 10.8 points and 7.6 re- bounds at Stetson. THE SKINNY: Iyola is redshirting this season after transferring from Stetson, where Arkansas assistant Corey Williams was his head coach. He played in 63 games in two seasons at Stetson and averaged 10.4 points, 6.9 rebounds and had 58 blocked shots. Last season he scored a career-high 26 points against South Florida and matched his career-high with 13 rebounds against VMI. EMEKA OBUKWELU CLASS: Junior HEIGHT: 6-8 WEIGHT: 230 POSITION: Forward HOMETOWN: Plano, Texas HIGH SCHOOL: Plano West LAST SEASON: Redshirted last season after transferring from the University of Texas-Tyler. THE SKINNY: Obukwelu is a walk-on who av- eraged 19.6 points and 7.8 rebounds as a soph- omore at UT-Tyler, which is an NCAA Division II school that plays in the Lone Star Conference. As a freshman he averaged 6.8 points and 3.8 rebounds. NWA Democrat-Gazette File Photo/CHARLIE KAIJO NWA Democrat-Gazette File Photo/J.T. WAMPLER NWA Democrat-Gazette File Photo/ANDY SHUPE NWA Democrat-Gazette File Photo/J.T. WAMPLER NWA Democrat-Gazette File Photo/ANDY SHUPE NWA Democrat-Gazette File Photo/J.T. WAMPLER Courtesy of University of Arkansas NWA Democrat-Gazette File Photo/CHARLIE KAIJO Capsules continue on Page 12