SPRINGDALE — As a basketball player at Fort Smith Northside and a coach at Southside, Springdale Har-Ber coach Eric Burnett saw the evolution of an annual tournament in his hometown.
And he’s hoping to witness the same kind of growth with the Har-Ber Holiday Tournament, now in its second year, which begins today in Wildcat Arena and runs through Wednesday. The Wildcats will finish off a four-game, opening-day slate with Greenwood at 8:15 p.m.
“Coach Burnett really is trying to do something similar to what he grew up around down there with the Coke Classic,” said Phil Ford, the Har-Ber Holiday Tournament’s director. “This is designed very similar to that, guaranteeing three quality games to every team.”
Burnett said the talent present at this year’s tournament should provide just that chance for the field, which includes Conway, Siloam Springs, Shiloh Christian, Tulsa (Okla.) Edison, Garland (Texas) Lakeview, and Clear Brook, Texas. The Wildcats (3-6) enter the tourney trying to rebound from a frustrating 58-27 home loss to Jenks, Okla., on Dec. 18.
And Burnett admits that bouncing back won’t be easy.
“I think it’s a better field than last year. I really do,” Burnett said. “Last year everybody was young except for us. So everybody’s coming back and reloading. Conway won it last year, and they’ve got everybody coming back it seems like.”
The Wampus Cats should challenge again for the Har-Ber Holiday Tournament championship, Burnett said. They’re led by a couple of seniors — Nebraska signee Kenyon McNeaill and Alabama-Birmingham signee Preston Purifoy — and junior Micah Delph, the son of former Arkansas star Marvin Delph. McNeaill won the tournament’s MVP award last year.
Burnett said all the out-of-town teams also possessed the ability to win the tournament. He said he hoped his Wildcats would use the three games to adequately prepare for 7A-West Conference play, which begins on Jan. 8.
“Mostly, I hope we improve our confidence, come together and start playing consistently,” Burnett said. “We need to start playing with the urgency we’ll need to have during conference play, and this tournament will help with that a lot.”