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No matter the sport, it is tough to transition from high school to big time college sports. Not only is the competition tougher, but it is your first time to taste freedom away from home. Our first installment of this series is for you to vote for "freshman of the year." Here are your nominees.
Hunter Henry, TE, Little Rock, AR
He was second on the team in catches (28), receiving yards (409), and tied for first with touchdown catches (4). He follows in the line of some successful tight ends (DJ Williams, Chris Gragg) for the Razorbacks in the last five years. Towards the end of the season, he felt like the only threat to catch the ball.
Alex Collins, RB, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Easily the most popular Razorback on campus, the team's 1,000 yard rusher lead them in almost all rushing categories in 2013. He is a great follow on twitter and always gracious with fans. The guy is a Razorback through and through after coming from an area that Arkansas hasn't been able to recruit in the past
Bobby Portis, F, Little Rock, AR
The only player to start all 34 games for Mike Anderson, he lead the team in almost all statistical categories. He lead the team in minutes (918), blocks (54) and rebounds (230) and was second in points per game (12.3). For the first time since 2007, the Razorback basketball team reached post-season play. Portis was obviously a clear reason for that.
Andrew Benintendi, OF, Cincinnati, OH
Coming out of high school, he was the #1 ranked player out of the state of Ohio. He came in and immediately impacted the team. His .276 batting averaged ranked third among players that played in 50 games or more. He lead the team in stolen bases with 17 and was fourth in RBIs with 27. However, the most impressive stat of his season is his .992 fielding percentage. He only committed one error the entire season.
Zach Jackson, P, Berryhill, OK
He was the go-to middle reliever for Dave Van Horn out of the bullpen this year. Only Michael Gunn and Jacob Stone had better ERAs out of the bullpen than Jackson (2.53). He threw the most innings (42.2) and had the most strikeouts (42) out of the bullpen. Opponents hit an anemic .184 off of him.