FAYETTEVILLE – There are two ways to look at Arkansas’ 2017-18 basketball season, which ended with a 79-62 loss to Butler in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last Friday. The glass-half-full crowd sees the Razorbacks (23-12, 10-8) as having exceeded the media’s expectations after finishing fifth in a tough Southeastern Conference.
There were certainly a lot of positives along the way.
True freshman and El Dorado native Daniel Gafford was even better than anticipated and quickly earned recognition as one of the nation’s best big men.
Senior guards Jaylen Barford and Daryl Macon took turns recording big performances and helped lead the Hogs to key wins over the likes of Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Auburn and Florida.
All in all, there’s definitely nothing wrong with 23 wins and a trip back to the Big Dance.
The glass-half-empty crowd, however, sees Mike Anderson’s seventh season as disappointing. After all, this group had bought into the “unfinished business” slogan that Anderson and the Hogs adopted shortly after losing to eventual national champion North Carolina in last year’s tourney.
With six scholarship seniors and a future first-round draft pick in Gafford, a lot of Razorback fans believed the hype despite the experts’ more modest projections.
Getting blasted by Butler in the first round wasn’t exactly the redemption story they were hoping for. In fact, Arkansas entering the tournament as a so-so seven seed was viewed as a disappointment.
There’s no arguing it was a fair placement based on the Hogs’ résumé, but one has to wonder where the Razorbacks could have been seeded if not for a few head-scratcher performances earlier in the year.
Overall, it wasn’t a terrible season by any means, but it wasn’t a great one, either. To be classified as having a “great” season, Arkansas will have to buck the trend of getting bounced so early in the tournament.
The Hogs haven’t reached the Sweet 16 in 22 years. Bill Clinton was President of the United States and gas cost just over a dollar per gallon the last time Arkansas was still alive on the second weekend of the tournament.
Ending that drought next season won’t be easy, either. Arkansas returns just seven players from this year’s roster, and only five of those participated this season. That total, of course, includes Gafford, who is currently seen as a 14-23 selection in the experts’ latest mock drafts.
Gafford, who averaged 11.8 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game as a true freshman, wasn’t quite ready to discuss his future after last Friday’s game.
“I really don’t want to talk about that right now,” he said.
Needless to say, Arkansas’ chances at making its fourth tournament appearance under Anderson rest largely on Gafford’s decision, and he has until April 22 to weigh his options.
Even if Gafford returns, the Hogs will still have a ton of question marks after losing Macon, Barford, Anton Beard, Trey Thompson, Arlando Cook and Dustin Thomas.
Of course, one could argue that a couple of those personnel losses are actually addition by subtraction, and it helps that the Razorbacks are welcoming six very athletic signees from the 2018 class.
Additionally, redshirt-sophomore point guard Jalen Harris, a former New Mexico transfer, will be ready to contribute after sitting out as part of the NCAA transfer rule.
Little Rock native Khalil Garland could be a key factor, too, if he’s cleared to play next season. The 6-5 wing was expected to help early and often as a true freshman this season but instead took a redshirt while dealing an undisclosed medical situation.