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Bret Bielema and the Razorbacks feel like there is nothing better than opening the season on the road at the defending national runners-up on August 30. And in a big way, facing a squad in the top tier of the rigorous SEC West has kept the players and coaches motivated during the long offseason. It isn't your typical season opener, and that simple fact has kept the Hogs focused all summer and heading into fall camp.
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NCAA and Arkansas track and field coaching legend John McDonnell will be getting his own gigantic statue outside of the facility already named after him. And there will also be a museum to showoff all of his incredible feats as a track and field coach. McDonnell has set the bar unbelievably high for T&F coaches and programs today, but the national power he built at Arkansas just keeps on bringing home hardware anyway and continuing a championship tradition. Here's the story from WholeHog Sports.
And here's are some tidbits from our guy Bob Holt on the statue and titles of McDonnell:
John McDonnell's 8-ft statue 1 ft shorter than one Alabama put up for Nick Saban, but McDonnell has 35 more national titles than Saban.
— Bob Holt (@BobHoltADG) July 21, 2014
Hold on a sec..
Correction: McDonnell has 36 more national titles than Saban.
— Bob Holt (@BobHoltADG) July 21, 2014
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So as it turns out, there's this kid named Malik Monk and he just so happens to be pretty good at basketball. How good you ask? Well, he's set an Elite Youth Basketball League record for points in a game with 59 and he also went berserk at Peach Jam over the weekend. And berserk is a huge understatement. Here were the reactions of some of the college basketball experts who saw Monk play this weekend:
Malik Monk just got a technical ... presumably for nearly hitting his head on the roof of the gym while dunking. Good lord. He is something.
— Gary Parrish (@GaryParrishCBS) July 19, 2014
Malik Monk. Remember that name. Will be a star.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanESPN) July 19, 2014
Not a stretch to say Malik Monk had the best Peach Jam performance (40 points) and best EYBL regular season performance (59 points).
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) July 19, 2014
There's a new mixtape which includes his Peach Jam filthiness combined with some high school silliness. Watch it.
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The Southeastern Conference has been nearly as unpredictable in basketball in recent years as it has been in football. Most who follow the Arkansas program are full expecting the Hogs to finally crack the NCAA Tournament this upcoming season, and maybe even make a little noise. Arkansas loses a senior leader in Coty Clarke, but brings in two legitimate point guards, some shooting and an outstanding outlet-passing big man in Trey Thompson. Here's one man's opinion on who will get into the Big Dance from the SEC in 2014-15.