MBB: Unofficial Recruiting Update

I haven’t seen anything official released by the university yet, but the Internet has a way of getting news out. We do know that there were five seniors on the team last year. But for the signing class, here’s what we’ve got so far. Remembers this is just Internet-only info, so who knows how valid some of this is. Also, remember that just because someone signs with us doesn’t mean that they end up on campus (ie. Malcolm Canada from a year ago. He ended up at Ellsworth Community College where he averaged 12.5ppg 5.9apg. Maybe he had academic issues and makes it back to us or maybe he thought he could sign somewhere else after a stellar year at a juco like Ja’Darius Davis – although I’m not sure that worked out well for Davis. Enough about all that.)

Apparently this guy is coming to UCA after initially playing for Oklahoma. Rivals shows him as committing on 4/3. The first link is about his battle with OU for a medical hardship after blowing out his knee. Interesting story.
KYLE HARDRICK
Power forward
Pratt, Kansas, Pratt C.C.
Ht: 6’9″
Wt: 230 lbs
Class: 2012 (Junior College)

---

And via Twitter -

@Daouda_Berete, who averaged 10 pts, 4 rebs, 3 stls and 4 asts for state champ Warriors, signs w/ @ucasports. Start of a Hall-UCA pipeline

DAVID BERETE
Shooting guard
LR Hall High
AAU: Arkansas Wings
Ht:6’3″
Wt:165 lbs
Class:2012 (High School)

---

Beret’s AAU Teammate is Jalen Jackson. From what I’ve seen, Jackson is the most highly touted on the list. He’s a 3-star on rivals. And part of ESPN’s Insider profile of him says:

Teammate Archie Goodwin gets most of the attention, and rightfully so, but Jackson is a fine player in his own right. If he can conjure up the mental toughness to want to be the best every time he steps on the court his future is bright.

JALEN JACKSON
Small forward
West Memphis High
AAU: Arkansas Wings
Ht:6’5″
Wt:195 lbs
Class:2012 (High School)

DMc on the Sugar Bears’ Loss to Nicholls

And more including proposing future games with UALR, the Southland’s place on the national stage, and how bad Alabama and Indiana were this season…

The Sugar Bears had played with fire all season. Odds were, they were going to get burned badly sooner or later. They did not play as well away from the Farris Center. They were a chronically slow-starting team, putting themselves in a hole in many a first half — including a 16-point first-half deficit against Nicholls State at Thibodaux.

If a team could disrupt the UCA’s rhythm when the Sugar Bears made a run, UCA was beatable.

The Sugar Bears are a team with great chemistry but not a dominating team.

Spring Practice Schedule

Saturday, March 10 Sunday, March 11 Tuesday, March 13 Thursday, March 15 Wednesday, March 28 Friday, March 30 Saturday, March 31* Monday, April 2

Wednesday, April 4 Friday, April 16 Saturday, April 7* Monday, April 9 Wednesday, April 11 Thursday, April 12 Friday, April 13**

* – scrimmages
** – Purple/Gray Spring Game

Softball: Southern Miss tourney

After a rain out last night, the ladies took a tough 9 inning 6-5 loss in this morning to Rhode Island. We outhit them 11-6, but we had five errors. Pitcher Kelsie Armstrong was lights out, but the four unearned runs cost her the win. Unfortunately for Armstrong, three of those errors were her own.

However, they followed that up with a good 7-1 win against the host team. It was Cami Newsome in the circle for that one, and she gave up just four hits in the game. Ashley Boswell was 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI in the game.

Melanie Bryant had a great day at the plate, going a combined 5-for-9.

The tournament continues tomorrow when the Bears will take on the same two teams – Rhode Island at 9 a.m. and Southern Miss at 1 p.m.

FCS Players invited to the NFL Combine

No Bears were invited to attend the combine this year, but some FCS names familiar to Bear fans were invited.

• Trumaine Johnson, Defensive back from Montana
• Caleb McSurdy, Linebacker from Montana
• Tim Benford, Wide receiver from Tennessee Tech
• Janzen Jackson, Free safety from McNeese State

In all, 22 FCS players were invited among the 325 total.

Bearbackers recap from DMc

The Sugar Bears have won seven straight. The Bears have lost five straight.

The Sugar Bears lead the east division. The Bears are tied for last in the east.

As DMc pointed out last week in a tweet – “UCA men’s and women’s games seem to follow continuing patterns in opposite directions”

Both teams have gone on huge dry spells in games. The difference so far has been that the women some how snap out of them with just enough time to get out of there with a win – that includes some amazing comebacks.

After rallying in the final four minutes to defeat Northwestern State on the road Wednesday, the Sugar Bears rallied from a 40-16 deficit at the 17:00 mark and down 11 with 3:36 left to overtake a 4-16 UT Arlington team, 53-51, also on the road…

“We really pulled road games out of the fire — at Northwestern and UTA. But we had a week in which we had five different players hit really big shots for us… To see so many players step up and make shots and to come back like that was a lot of fun — kind of.” - assistant head coach Tony Kemper

The men just can’t get over the hump to win games. They’ve been close.

“We’re right there, but I don’t want to continue to say that,” [head coach Corliss Williamson] said. “You need somebody who can step up and make a play. When we’re coming back and it gets to the breaking point, it makes that next possession, whether it’s getting a stop or getting a basket, that much more important.”

The Bears were 2-2 in SLC play before their five-game slide. They are battling injuries and played Saturday without their leading scorer. The remaining seven Southland games include five against teams with 3 or fewer conference wins – all winnable games. McNeese and UTSA are the teams with better records, and both of those games are at home. There’s still a chance to finish much closer to .500 than the Bears a now.