Junior college point guard Chris Darrington is a candidate to fill the fourth spot for the 2017 class that University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Coach Mike Anderson talked about last week.
Darrington, 6-1, 175 pounds, has more than 10 scholarship offers, including Seton Hall, Tennessee, Western Kentucky, Memphis, Colorado and UNLV, while the Hogs are showing strong interest.
He led Vincennes (Ind.) University to a 32-3 record and the National Junior College Athletic Association playoffs by averaging 20.7 points, 3.1 rebounds and 4.6 assists a game.
Darrington scored 33 points and had 10 rebounds and 4 assists in an 82-76 victory over Northern Oklahoma in the playoffs. He's been communicating with Arkansas assistant Scotty Thurman.
"We've just been talking about my interest in Arkansas and am I still interested," Darrington said. "I talked to him recently and he told me good luck before my game, and then he talked about me making the all tournament team and told me congratulations on that."
He's aware of the Hogs' return to the NCAA Tournament and their 26-10 finish. Darrington also likes the success that former junior college guards Daryl Macon and Jaylen Barford had this season.
"They take JUCO kids and they have success with them," Darrington said. "That intrigues me. Jaylen Barford, I actually got a chance to play against him my freshman year during his sophomore year. They beat us. That was a good experience to play against a guard on that level."
This year, Darrington shot 44.4 percent from the field, 43.3 percent on three-pointers and 80.4 percent at the free-throw line. He hasn't decided where he'll take his five allotted official visits.
"I'm going to sit down with the coaching staff and some of my family members and talk it over with them," Darrington said. "We're going to sit down and figure out the best visits to take."
Williamson thrills
The Real Deal in the Rock basketball tournament probably saw the best Friday and Saturday crowds since the event moved to Little Rock from Fayetteville.
The 17-under Arkansas Hawks, featuring five Razorbacks commitments, and the appearance by power forward sensation Zion Williamson brought standing-room only type crowds the first two days.
ESPN national director of recruiting Paul Biancardi ranks Williamson the No. 2 overall prospect in the nation behind power forward Marvin Bagley of Phoenix Sierra Canyon.
Williamson, 6-7, 230 pounds, of Spartanburg (S.C.) Day thrilled fans and several Razorbacks players, including Daryl Macon, Dusty Hannahs, Anton Beard, Trey Thompson, Dustin Thomas and Adrio Bailey.
"He displays extreme versatility and at his size," Biancardi said. "He is extremely nimble. He's comfortable and confident facing up on the perimeter to score or facilitate. He understands angles with his back to the basket and is tremendous finisher and is an athletic specimen with high level skill."
Perry on board
Arkansas Hawks and Razorbacks commitment Reggie Perry enjoyed seeing the overflow crowd Friday night.
"It was a big crowd, they were into it," Perry said. "They weren't just sitting there. We made sure they got hyped."
Perry, 6-10, 225 pounds, of Thomasville, Ga., had scholarship offers from schools like Florida State, Auburn, Arizona State, Mississippi State, Alabama, Iowa State, Miami and others before deciding to play at Arkansas.
ESPN rates Perry the No. 25 overall prospect in the nation for the 2018 class. The passion of Hogs fans at the Real Deal and once he is on campus is something he's already thinking about.
"It felt good, it just gave me a little taste of what it's going to be like in Fayetteville," Perry said.
Email Richard Davenport [email protected]
Sports on 04/02/2017