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— Bobby BP Portis (@BPortistime) April 14, 2015
Bobby Portis lived up to his 5* McDonald's All-American promise in his sophomore season, turning in arguably the best individual season for Razorback basketball this century. It was so good that he rose high enough on the draft boards that he decided to leave Arkansas and move on to the NBA.
Portis is projected as high as a lottery pick by some NBA Draft prognosticators and no worse than 20th or so. Of course, we'll be following him as he trains for the draft in June and keep up with his projections. The NBA Draft is scheduled for June 25th.
Portis was the first Razorback since Corliss Williamson to win the SEC Player of the Year award, and is the first Hog ever to score 1,000 points and grab 500 rebounds by the end of his sophomore season. He was a 2nd team All-American and a contender for seemingly every award for which he was eligible.
One positive for Arkansas fans is that, prior to this year, Mike Anderson has only been the head coach for one first round draft pick in his career, DeMarre Carroll when he coached at Missouri. By all accounts, Portis will add to that list and give Anderson more credibility on the recruiting trail.
Arkansas now has two scholarships to use this spring. Michael Qualls has not yet announced his decision.