Rivalry friendly for Ready, Portis

Saturday, February 22, 2014

STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State freshman point guard I.J. Ready said he talks to Arkansas freshman forward Bobby Portis on a weekly basis.

Ready played high school basketball at Little Rock Parkview while Portis played at Little Rock Hall, which beat Ready and the Patriots 56-45 in the Class 6A state semifinals last season.

“Bobby is a close friend,” said Ready, who along with Portis was a first-team selection on the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s All-Arkansas Team. “I’ve known him since the fifth grade.

“We’re both pretty busy, but we find time to talk. Most of the time we don’t even talk about basketball. We talk about everything else that’s going on.”

Ready and Portis will be able to talk in person today when the Bulldogs play the Razorbacks at Humphrey Coliseum.

“We’ve been competing against each other since ninth grade, so this will be another fun experience doing it for the first time in the SEC,” Ready said. “I’ll talk to him before the game, but when the game starts we’re going to be competing to get the win.”

Sports, Pages 24 on 02/22/2014