State Sports Briefs

Arkansas coach Mike Anderson speaks with Dusty Hannahs against Missouri Saturday, Jan. 14, 2017, during the second half in Bud Walton Arena.
Arkansas coach Mike Anderson speaks with Dusty Hannahs against Missouri Saturday, Jan. 14, 2017, during the second half in Bud Walton Arena.

BASKETBALL

Hannahs to play in Poland

Former University of Arkansas, Fayetteville guard Dusty Hannahs will begin his professional career in Poland.

Hannahs has signed with AZS Koszalin of the Polish Basketball League. His contract includes an opt-out until Aug. 20 if an NBA team signs him to participate in the NBA Summer League or G League, but he cannot sign with another team in Europe.

Practice for the 17-team Polish league begins in August, and the season begins in October. Koszalin was 9-23 last season.

"I'm really excited about signing with them," Hannahs told WholeHogSports.com. "They had a tough season last year, but hopefully I can come in and handle the ball, shoot it like I can and put my skills on display for a team that needs a playmaker.

"I have been to Estonia, Finland, France, Italy and Spain. I have never been to Poland, but have talked to some people who have and they say it is a great league and a great place to play. I am looking forward to beginning my professional career."

Hannahs led Arkansas in scoring the past two seasons after transferring from Texas Tech. He averaged 14.4 points per game as a senior, down from 16.5 points per game as a junior.

-- Matt Jones

BASEBALL

Bentonville athlete commits to Hogs

The Arkansas Razorbacks picked up a commitment Wednesday from a two-sport standout at Bentonville.

Kam'ron Mays-Hunt committed to the Razorbacks as a pitcher less than a week after receiving a scholarship offer from Coach Dave Van Horn. The senior transferred to Bentonville from White Hall prior to his sophomore year.

"I was very excited to get the offer," Mays-Hunt told WholeHogSports.com earlier this week. "It's a great school and I really like Arkansas. What was great was I got a chance to go down and visit with him one-on-one and tour everything. That was the first time I have ever really had a one-on-one visit like that and it was really good."

Mays-Hunt (6-0, 175 pounds) has flourished this summer as a pitcher for the Arkansas Sticks travel team that includes nine other players committed to SEC programs, seven to the Razorbacks. Mays-Hunt runs 6.5 seconds in the 60-yard dash, and his fastball touched 91 mph during an event at Fayetteville High School two weeks ago when Van Horn was in attendance.

Mays-Hunt also is a top receiver for Bentonville's football team. He had 36 receptions for 553 yards and 6 touchdowns as a junior, and he has received football scholarship offers from the University of Central Arkansas, Illinois State and Missouri Western State.

Verbal commitments are nonbinding.

-- Matt Jones

ATHLETICS

SAU claims GAC athletes of the year

For the first time in the six-year history of the Great American Conference, the league's male and female athletes of the year are from the same school.

Softball player Maddie Dow and baseball player Trevor Rucker were chosen by the conference's sports information directors Wednesday. Dow finished her career as Southern Arkansas University's all-time leader in seven categories, including batting average (.363), home runs (74) and RBI (244). Her 22 home runs this season led all of NCAA Division II and ranked fourth in all three NCAA divisions. She ranked second in the nation in on-base percentage and fifth in slugging percentage while becoming the conference's first consensus first-team All-American.

Rucker, the unanimous GAC player of the year, was a first-team All-American who led the conference in eight major offensive categories, including batting average (.393), runs scored (67) and home runs (20). He became the league's first four-time all-conference performer in his career and finished as the GAC's all-time leader in hits (261), runs (200), RBI (154) and home runs (42), among other categories.

Sports on 06/29/2017

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