Hog calls

Gym rats give Hogs coach confidence

Arkansas coach Mike Anderson watches practice Wednesday, March 18, 2015, at Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla.
Arkansas coach Mike Anderson watches practice Wednesday, March 18, 2015, at Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla.

FAYETTEVILLE -- It will take Manuale Watkins-type offseason improvement from all the other Arkansas Razorbacks to get them where they want to go next season, even if Bobby Portis and Michael Qualls return.

Double that improvement required by all returning if Portis and Qualls aren't among Coach Mike Anderson's returnees next season.

Portis, the SEC's player of the year this season as a sophomore, and junior swingman Qualls, a second-team All-SEC selection, should take their time before declaring whether they will return to the UA for the 2015-2016 season or declare for the June NBA Draft.

Watkins, the 6-3 sophomore walk-on guard out of Fayetteville High School and the son of Arkansas assistant Melvin Watkins, ranks as Arkansas' benchmark of offseason improvement.

Watkins mopped up 27 total minutes in eight games as a freshman during the 2013-2014 season. He devoted the ensuing spring and summer working to ensure his time would come by the time the Hogs officially practiced in the fall.

In 2014-2015, Watkins played every game off the bench, totaling 502 minutes. He was second on the team in steals, logged 52 assists with only 27 turnovers, and hit the game-winning shot to defeat Ole Miss 71-70 in Oxford, Miss.

Watkins' game-winner drew the most acclaim, but Anderson said it was Watkins' dirty work that most elevated Arkansas' game.

"You look at Manuale, it's amazing what he did for our basketball team this year," Anderson said Friday. "He just did all the little things. That, to me, is the making of a very good basketball team when you've got guys that will sacrifice their game for the good of the team. They do the things that some guys don't want to do."

There seems maybe another Manny in waiting. Little-used, lanky freshman reserve guard Nick Babb subtly emerged late in the season, which included scoring five points and handing out three assists when the Hogs needed them most while reviving from a brief malaise to defeat Georgia 60-49 in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament.

"One thing about Babb, when his number was called, he was ready," Anderson said. "I think the season he had will propel him into the offseason to really, really get after it. Manuale was like that, and I put [Babb] in that category."

Anderson is on point for the first time in his four seasons as Arkansas' head coach with a proven point guard heading into the offseason.

Anton Beard, the assertive freshman point guard from North Little Rock, battled cumulative late-season injuries that hampered him during Arkansas' two NCAA Tournament games. They still didn't prevent him volunteering to take more charges than American Express.

He is not apt to let the Hogs lapse in offseason workouts.

"He's a leader by nature," Anderson said. "He's a gym rat. I've got a lot of guys that are gym rats. That's the beauty of this team. As long as they don't change, they're going to continue to get better."

Sports on 03/28/2015

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