In what is probably the least surprising news to come out of the basketball program in recent times, John Pelphrey announced last night that forward Jason Henry will not return to Fayetteville for his sophomore season. The 6'6" native of West Memphis may have been the most talented member of last year's recruiting class - witness his 27-point, 12-rebound effort in the Hogs' road loss to South Carolina - but it was obvious to anyone paying attention that Pelphrey wasn't exactly enamored with him.
Even after some outstanding performances by Henry, Pelphrey's praise was noticeably guarded, and the coach suspended Henry a whopping three times. Yes, Pelphrey seemingly can't go a day without suspending someone, but still - that's a little eye-popping.
Hopefully, this will work out for the best (although the Hogs' APR score will presumably take yet another hit), but Hog hoops fans can't help but be a little weary of all this by now. Of the six members of last year's recruiting class, exactly two are still with the program. We remain fans of Pel, but clearly he and his assistants need to do a much better job of finding players who will mesh with his hard-ass, bring-your-lunch-pail style of coaching.