Burn The Horse

Sun Belt extends TV deal

2013-05-21T11:50:00.001-05:00

When I said yesterday that I thought the Sun Belt Conference had more important things to work on, this was one of those things. Instead of taking advantage of the changing sports television landscape, the Sun Belt decided more of the same was just fine.

The already bad television deal has been extended:
http://www.sunbeltsports.org/SPORTS/MensSports/Football/Article/tabid/740/article/20211/Extension-of-Sun-Belt-Network-Partnership-Announced.aspx?SPSID=35830&SPID=2855&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=7200

The deal is OK if you have Comcast or if you live in an area where truly high-speed internet is available. The rest of us are out of luck.

Sun Belt Conference gets a new logo

2013-05-20T08:53:00.000-05:00

Honestly, it seems the Sun Belt Conference has bigger issues than the logo. Yet, here's the new logo the conference spent a bunch of money and time on.

I don't hate it. But I don't exactly love it. Actually, I much prefer that smaller logo at the bottom right (the secondary logo).

Get more info here.

UALR guard Taggart Lockhart to transfer

2013-05-14T09:09:00.001-05:00

Since signing day we've known UALR would have to reduce its scholarship roster by two players before the fall semester begins. We now can confirm that one of the two players departing will be junior-to-be Taggart Lockhart.

It is believed Lockhart is headed back to his home state of Oklahoma where he will play for a NCAA Division II school Southeastern Oklahoma State.

These were his tweets from Monday as the spring semester wrapped up:

My last night in little rock...
— Taggart Lockhart (@taglockhart23) May 14, 2013

Been an emotional day. Had so much fun here and wouldn't change anything. Made so many friends and memories. Gonna miss it.
— Taggart Lockhart (@taglockhart23) May 14, 2013

Lockhart averaged 5.1 points and 2.7 rebounds while playing 20.7 minutes per game last season. But concussions cut that season short. He received a concussion in a Feb. 2 game against South Alabama. He returned to action 12 days later against Arkansas State and received another concussion. Lockhart then never received medical clearance to return to practice or game action.

Losing Lockhart's toughness hurt UALR, which went 3-6 down the stretch. The Trojans were 14-9 before Lockhart's injury.

UALR can't say much about Lockhart's medical situation due to HIPAA concerns. But Lockhart's Twitter feed gives a little insight as to what he's been going through:

I've been having so many nose bleeds.. Smh
— Taggart Lockhart (@taglockhart23) April 7, 2013

Not really the news I was wanting to here from the doc
— Taggart Lockhart (@taglockhart23) April 10, 2013

The bad news is that we won't get to see Lockhart during his junior and senior years. His toughness, and ability to play defense and take a charge will absolutely be missed. The good news is that UALR has options at the 3 guard position where he was most utilized.

Senior Leroy Isler spent a lot of time at both the 2 and 3 last season. Sophomore Stetson Billings filled in at the 3 throughout the year. Freshman Mareik Isom can play either the 2 or the 3. And freshman Maurius Hill is more like a 4 in a 3 body. He could allow senior Will Neighbour to see some more time at the 3.

UALR will play in tournament highlighted by Florida and Middle Tennessee

2013-05-03T08:17:00.001-05:00

Last night via Twitter, Jeff Goodman of CBS confirmed what we were already hearing. UALR will participate in a five team round robin exempt tournament this year.

We can also fill in some details. The past two years, UALR has been able to secure a couple of home games by playing in tournaments. Last year, UALR hosted Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Jacksonville. This season, the Trojans were only able to get one home game via the tournament. UALR will host North Florida. That means UALR is going on the road to Florida, Middle Tennesee and Southern. All three were NCAA Tournament teams a year ago.

UALR will get at least one bonus out of it. This tournament is in some way connected to a preseason trip to Canada, which UALR is expected to take around Labor Day. That will allow the Trojans to get in 10 practice days leading up to those games.

The rest of the UALR schedule remains pretty much a mystery. It's believed that UALR and Tulsa renewed their series. If they stay on schedule, that would put UALR traveling to Tulsa this season.

The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal wrote a nice story about UALR signee Devonte Smith

2013-04-29T08:34:00.002-05:00

SPC

Really nice story about UALR point guard signee Devonte Smith in the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.

CLICK HERE

Signings of Smith, Hill add to UALR's future hoops roster

2013-04-18T09:07:00.000-05:00

Yesterday's signing of South Plains College (Texas) point guard Devonte Smith and Homewood-Flossmoor High School (Chicago) power forward Maurius Hill puts UALR at 15 scholarship players for the 2013-2014 season.

The NCAA allows men's basketball teams to have 13 scholarship players. UALR has until the start of the fall semester (in August) to get to 13.

Here's a look at where UALR stands for the next four seasons.

UALR officially signs Maurius Hill

2013-04-17T17:37:00.001-05:00

The paperwork is in. UALR has signed Marius Hill.

More tomorrow.

South Plains' point guard Devonte Smith signs with UALR

2013-04-17T13:47:00.001-05:00

The national letter of intent from South Plains College point guard Devonte Smith has been received by UALR. He is one of two players expected to sign with the Trojans on the first day of the spring signing period.

Smith’s arrival brings both experience and depth to UALR at point guard. The 5-11 guard from Oklahoma City, averaged 7 points and 5.5 assists this season for South Plains. As a freshman, he was the point guard as South Plains, featuring future Ole Miss sharpshooter Marshall Henderson, went 36-0 and won the junior college national championship.

While more of a traditional point guard (he had 13 assists and just 1 turnover in a victory over New Mexico Military Institute), Smith can also provide scoring. He had 26 points (with 6 rebounds and 5 assists) in a victory over New Mexico Junior College.

His commitment was made official via Yahoo!/Rivals last week.

Out of high school, ESPN’s recruiting expert Dave Telep described him as a “high octane, creator, and facilitator type.”

UALR is scheduled to return sophomore point guards Josh Hagins and John Gillon. However, Gillon showed last season he was more than capable of playing at the shooting guard position. Some of UALR’s best minutes last year came with Hagins at the point and Gillon at the 2.

UALR is also expected to sign Homewood-Flossmoor power forward Maurius Hill.

UALR's Lockhart, commitment Smith were once all-star teammates

2013-04-16T09:22:00.002-05:00

UALR junior Taggart Lockhart and South Plains' Devonte Smith, who is expected to sign with UALR in the spring signing period (which begins on Wednesday), were once teammates. They played for Team Oklahoma in the Faith 7 All-Star Game after their senior year of high school.
http://www.wset.com/story/14888679/oklahoma-tops-texas-in-faith-7-basketball-bowl

They also opposed each other in another all-star game:
http://claremoreprogress.com/sports/x2057654688/Ex-Zebra-Caudill-sparks-East/print

And both were all-Oklahoma selections:
http://blog.newsok.com/highschoolsports/2011/03/29/obi-emegano-devonte-smith-ryan-spangler-highlight-oca-all-state-selections/

Here's a look at UALR commitment Maurius Hill

2013-04-16T09:08:00.000-05:00

It appears UALR will add two players this week

2013-04-15T11:46:00.000-05:00

Devonte Smith and Maurius Hill

It appears UALR will sign two players during Wednesday’s opening of the NCAA’s Spring Signing Period for National Letters of Intent.

UALR has two commitments at this point. The first came from high school power forward Maurius Hill, who played at Homewood-Flossmoor in Chicago. The second came from junior college point guard Devonte Smith.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE

UALR stacked up well against similarly experienced teams last season

2013-04-03T15:16:00.001-05:00

Freshman Josh Hagins

We heard stories all season about UALR’s inexperience. But how did the Trojans stack up against the nation’s other most inexperienced teams. The answer is pretty well.

UALR finished the season as the nation’s 13^th most inexperienced team by Statsheet.com, which uses a system that tracks the minutes played by class of every Division I player. UALR’s rotation last season included two juniors, four sophomores and five freshmen.

Of the top 20 most inexperienced teams, only six finished with a winning record. That list was topped by Michigan, which is headed to this weekend’s Final four. Charlotte and Kentucky were the only others in that group to win 20 games. The other three were UALR at 17-15, Hartford at 17-14 and St. John’s at 17-16.

The other 14 teams finished with losing records, including Louisiana-Lafayette at 13-20. UALR and ULL had identical experience ratings last season.

How did UALR stack up against like programs? Again, pretty well. UALR was one of only four out of the 20 most inexperienced teams to have a winning record in conference play. UALR was 11-9 in Sun Belt games. Hartford was 10-6, Kentucky 12-6 and Michigan 12-6. As a point of reference, Louisiana-Lafayette finished 8-12.

Statsheet.com’s numbers state that freshman average 18.5 percent of the minutes across Division I. UALR’s freshmen played 41 percent of last season’s minutes.

Juniors and seniors combine to average 58.3 of the minutes. UALR’s juniors and seniors played 28 percent of last season’s minutes.

UALR has the possibility of losing only one player from this year’s team in senior Ted Crass. In addition to those scheduled to return, UALR had two freshmen, one sophomore and one junior sitting out as redshirts last season.

In mythical WNIT seeding, UALR's first-round game doesn't match up

2013-03-20T13:28:00.002-05:00

Thought this was interesting and it backed up some of what we reported yesterday.

Just for fun, the Columbia Tribune seeded the 64-team WNIT bracket. Of course, the WNIT doesn't actually do this. Well, at least they don't publicly release it.

By the CDT's estimation, UALR would have been a 3 "seed" and is playing at Pacific, which would have been a No. 1 "seed."

The other No. 1 "seeds" all play much lower "seeds" in their first round game. Duquesne plays 11th seeded Akron, San Diego State plays 15th seeded UC Santa Barbara and Toledo plays 12th seeded Butler.

Read on:

http://www.columbiatribune.com/blogs/beyond_box_score/wnit-huge-stepping-stone-and-what-if-it-had-seeds/article_eb0074da-90d7-11e2-8941-001a4bcf6878.html

We've updated our UALR future roster as the spring recruiting period nears

2013-03-20T09:58:00.000-05:00

We are not yet aware of any potential transfers this spring. For now, we'll assume everyone who is scheduled to return will return for the 2013-2014 season. If they do, and if everyone stays throughout their eligibility, this is what the UALR roster looks like going forward.

Of course, it's likely it won't stay exactly the same. We'll try to update with additions and subtractions as we become aware of them this Spring.

UALR will fork over $10,000, WNIT even more for cross-country trip

2013-03-19T11:59:00.002-05:00

Postseason is going to cost UALR some bucks after all.

UALR chose not to participate in the pay for play postseason men's basketball tournaments, even one in which it wouldn't have cost them anything. UALR is playing in the women's National Invitation Tournament and will have to fork over $10,000 up front.

Why? Because UALR failed to bid to host a home game in the tournament (according to last week's Statewide). The WNIT then sent UALR to play Pacific on Friday night in Stockton, Calif.

WNIT bylaws state that "a team pays the first $10,000 of its travel expenses (air, hotel, bus) during the tournament and the WNIT reimburses the team for all expenses above that level. It does not matter now many games that includes; once the $10,000 has been met, the reimbursement kicks in and covers the entire tournament)."

Considering round trip flights from Little Rock to San Francisco departing Thursday are currently priced well over $1,000 and a charter flight would be even more expensive, UALR will easily meet the $10,000 limit in its first game. That doesn't include hotels, ground transportation once they reach California and per diem.

The positive going forward is that UALR doesn't have to pay to travel again throughout it's life in the tournament. UALR could also bid on future home games, but the price gets more expensive the further teams advance in the tournament.

I have to question why the WNIT, which will have to pick up all of UALR's additional expenses on this trip and all expenses going forward, would send the Trojans to California. It's very unlike what they typically do.

UALR-Pacific will be one of the tournament's best first-round matchups. But even that seems to violate the principles the WNIT utilizes.

While the WNIT doesn't seed teams, its bylaws do state that "first-round pairings will be determined initially in team strength (i.e. a top tier team plays a bottom tier team; a middle tier team plays a middle tier team) and then may be adjusted with consideration to school location, conference and prior meetings among the teams, among other factors."

It's hard to believe the WNIT would consider UALR to be a "bottom tier" thing. UALR's RPI finished at 65 this season. Likewise, Pacific was very good with a 47 RPI. It's hard to imagine either was "middle tier" either. To compare, Memphis (128 RPI) is traveling to Arkansas (78) for a first-round game.

Did the WNIT punish UALR for its unwillingness to host? Whatever the reason, something seems askew.

No postseason for UALR after all tournament lineups announced

2013-03-18T08:18:00.000-05:00

With the announcement of the NCAA, NIT, CBI and CIT fields comes the end to the 2012-2013 UALR basketball season. The Trojans end the season at 17-15.

I've been asked several times over the past week whether or not UALR was invited to play in the CBI or CIT. Both tournaments talked to UALR but I don't know if a formal invitation to play was extended. Therefore I can't tell you whether or not UALR even had an invitation to turn down.

But given UALR's past stance on these tournaments, I never thought it was likely they would participate.

This was from an Associated Press story in 2009 when a 23-8 UALR team missed out on the NIT after a semifinal loss in the Sun Belt Tournament. UALR then turned down bids to both the CBI and CIT.

"The CBI and the CollegeInsider -- I give those people a lot of credit for starting new tournaments and that's great -- but our goal was to play in the NCAA or the NIT," UALR Athletic Director Chris Peterson said.

UALR's resume was not as solid this year. But judging by the teams that were selected, UALR would have definitely been in the mix. UALR did practice last week but it's hopes for postseason appeared to have ended when players were sent home for Spring Break.

UALR had only one senior this season in walk-on Ted Crass. If everyone returns, UALR will have one of the most experienced lineups in Division I next season.

Burn The Horse UALR award winners

2013-03-13T12:21:00.000-05:00

No idea if UALR will accept the invitation to either the College Basketball Invitational or College Insider Tournament. In the meantime, we’ll go ahead and give out our Burn The Horse yearly award winners.

BTH PLUS MINUS LEADER

Junior Will Neighbour was the runaway winner.

BTH VOTE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

As voted in our nightly polls throughout the season by Burn The Horse readers, freshmen point guards John Gillon and Josh Hagins tied for player of the year points. Neighbour was third and sophomore Michael Javes fourth.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

No doubt is was junior Leroy Isler, who routinely drew difficult assignments and came through much of the time. Isler seemed to really embrace playing defense. That’s a great trait to have in a teammate.

NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR

Since the majority of the roster was made up of newcomers, this was difficult. In the end, we decided to go with freshman point guard John Gillon. Gillon averaged 10.6 points this season.

SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR

There were a lot of different starting lineups utilized throughout the year. And even though he started 11 of the 25 games he appeared in, we went with sophomore Taggart Lockhart. His loss due to injury was definitely felt late in the season.

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

I’m not sure there’s a more inspirational story than that of senior guard Ted Crass. If everyone worked as hard in their life as he did for UALR, we’d all be a lot more successful.

UALR's season of questions ends with more questions

2013-03-10T09:55:00.000-05:00

For UALR, a season that began with so many questions ended with more questions after Saturday’s loss to Florida International in the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Tournament.

John Gillon

Playing one of the youngest rosters in NCAA Division I, UALR finished with a 17-15 record and tied for fourth in the Sun Belt Conference. UALR has no scholarship seniors and could return everyone. That should be a reason for tremendous optimism.

But, considering where this team was in January, the finish is completely disappointing. UALR was on pace for a second place finish before a four-game collapse that saw the Trojans have to scrap in the final week just to get a tournament bye.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE

BTH Morning After: Deja vu for UALR as opposing guard torches Trojans

2013-03-10T09:16:00.002-05:00

Saturday night’s 69-54 loss to Florida International featured something that has been a consistent issue throughout the 2012-2013 season. The opponent had a guard that UALR could do nothing to stop.

This time it was Florida International’s Malik Smith. He made 8 of 10 three-pointers and finished with 25 points as the Golden Panthers blew UALR away in the Sun Belt Tournament quarterfinals.

The rest of the FIU roster made just 3 of 16 three-pointers on the night.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE

Watch highlights from UALR's quarterfinal loss to Florida International

2013-03-10T08:45:00.002-05:00

UALR blown out in quarterfinals of Sun Belt Tournament

2013-03-09T21:11:00.003-06:00

Saturday night at the Sun Belt Tournament was a microcosm of much of UALR’s season.

Slow start. Check.

Turnovers. Check.

Inability to get defensive stops. Check.

Rebounding issues: Check.

The result was a disappointing 69-54 loss to Florida International on Convention Center Court in Hot Springs. UALR’s season ends at 17-15.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE

BTH Live Tweetcast: UALR vs. FIU game updates tonight at 6

2013-03-09T15:00:00.000-06:00

UALR takes on Florida International at 6 p.m. tonight at Hot Springs Convention Center in the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Tournament. Check back at 6 p.m. when we hope to have live video courtesy of the Sun Belt Digital Network. We'll also have our live Tweetcast with game updates, observations, commentary and more.
Mobile users. Follow along on Twitter at this link: CLICK HERE

BTH Gameday: UALR and FIU different teams with similar seasons

2013-03-09T01:00:00.000-06:00

6 p.m. tonight
Hot Springs

UALR and Florida International, two pretty similar teams in a lot of ways, meet at 6 p.m. tonight in the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament at Hot Springs Convention Center.

No, the teams don’t have similar personnel. UALR has a bigger, inside oriented team while FIU has more than solid guard play. But they did have similar seasons.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE

Saturday's Sun Belt Tournament quarterfinals are set

2013-03-08T22:36:00.001-06:00

Summit Arena/Convention Center ready for Sun Belt to begin

2013-03-08T12:06:00.000-06:00

A look at the Hot Springs Convention Center Court, where UALR will take on Florida International at 6 p.m. on Saturday.

Burn The Horse

Sun Belt extends TV deal

Sun Belt Conference gets a new logo

UALR guard Taggart Lockhart to transfer

UALR will play in tournament highlighted by Florida and Middle Tennessee

The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal wrote a nice story about UALR signee Devonte Smith

Signings of Smith, Hill add to UALR's future hoops roster

UALR officially signs Maurius Hill

South Plains' point guard Devonte Smith signs with UALR

UALR's Lockhart, commitment Smith were once all-star teammates

Here's a look at UALR commitment Maurius Hill

It appears UALR will add two players this week

UALR stacked up well against similarly experienced teams last season

In mythical WNIT seeding, UALR's first-round game doesn't match up

We've updated our UALR future roster as the spring recruiting period nears

UALR will fork over $10,000, WNIT even more for cross-country trip

No postseason for UALR after all tournament lineups announced

Burn The Horse UALR award winners

BTH PLUS MINUS LEADER

BTH VOTE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR

SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

UALR's season of questions ends with more questions

BTH Morning After: Deja vu for UALR as opposing guard torches Trojans

Watch highlights from UALR's quarterfinal loss to Florida International

UALR blown out in quarterfinals of Sun Belt Tournament

BTH Live Tweetcast: UALR vs. FIU game updates tonight at 6

BTH Gameday: UALR and FIU different teams with similar seasons

6 p.m. tonightHot Springs

Saturday's Sun Belt Tournament quarterfinals are set

Summit Arena/Convention Center ready for Sun Belt to begin

6 p.m. tonight
Hot Springs