The downward spiral....
Nothing like having a Mid-Major coach reject you. Arkansas is currently having a PR nightmare as Dana Creighton went hopping back to Creighton under the guise of "family decision" and "just couldn't let go" of his 13 years at Creighton. Yet the rumors were swirling ever since he taxied off the runway at Drake Field that there were other reasons for his sudden departure.
The rumors got so bad the University was forced to send out a press release CONFIRMING that there were off the court issues with some of the Razorbacks players. The news: 2 Hogs test positive for marijuana during a random drug screening on March 27 (the day AFTER Stan Heath is fired). On the academic front, another Hog is suspended from team activities for academic reasons. So for once, all the scuttlebutt and whispers around town proved to be true. Was it the real reason Altman bolted back to a Jesuit-Catholic school that prides itself on discipline and academics? You be the judge.
meanwhile the Hogs basketball program continues to be a rudderless ship. The University has taken the car keys from Frank Broyles and given them to a professional search firm. How do I know they are professional? When you shell out 90,000 bucks for a search, it's professional. It also means the Uof A means business about finding a coach, and finding one RIGHT NOW.
It still might not be in time for the Real Deal on the Hill this weekend in Bud Walton Arena. Nothing like having 1,000 of the best high school basketball players in the country in your OWN TOWN and not having a head coach to go recruit them. Lovely. Right now Arkansas is the butt of every national joke when it comes to sports. Can it be fixed? Sure, why not? But it's going to be a long road... and it's going to be bumpy.
The rumors got so bad the University was forced to send out a press release CONFIRMING that there were off the court issues with some of the Razorbacks players. The news: 2 Hogs test positive for marijuana during a random drug screening on March 27 (the day AFTER Stan Heath is fired). On the academic front, another Hog is suspended from team activities for academic reasons. So for once, all the scuttlebutt and whispers around town proved to be true. Was it the real reason Altman bolted back to a Jesuit-Catholic school that prides itself on discipline and academics? You be the judge.
meanwhile the Hogs basketball program continues to be a rudderless ship. The University has taken the car keys from Frank Broyles and given them to a professional search firm. How do I know they are professional? When you shell out 90,000 bucks for a search, it's professional. It also means the Uof A means business about finding a coach, and finding one RIGHT NOW.
It still might not be in time for the Real Deal on the Hill this weekend in Bud Walton Arena. Nothing like having 1,000 of the best high school basketball players in the country in your OWN TOWN and not having a head coach to go recruit them. Lovely. Right now Arkansas is the butt of every national joke when it comes to sports. Can it be fixed? Sure, why not? But it's going to be a long road... and it's going to be bumpy.
posted by Mark Lericos at 11:13 PM
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