Natural State athletes remain plenty fun to watch
Although Brooks Robinson was well before my time in the baseball world, I knew of him as one of the many standout athletes from Arkansas.
When his death was announced Tuesday, I thought of all the stories I had heard of his legendary fielding on the diamond, but also thought about how he hailed from Little Rock, my hometown (well, North Little Rock or Sherwood are better options for my official hometown, but you get the point).
For being a rather small state with not a ton of national clout, The Natural State sure churns out some athletes and legendary sports figures.
Although I’ve deviated somewhat from this trend in my sports trading card collection, one of my early collecting goals was to collect the cards of players I had seen play in person.
Being someone who has been to sporting events across the country and even world, this included plenty of non-Arkansans. However, it always gives me that extra boost of excitement when I open a shiny Topps or Panini package and boom, out pops a player from Arkansas that I’ve seen play.
Attending North Little Rock High School, I had the fortune of seeing some outstanding Arkansas athletes in my own backyard.
Who can forget Charging Wildcat receiver K.J. Hill, who went on to be Ohio State’s all-time reception leader and played some snaps in the NFL. I remember tuning into Ohio State games just to watch a player who I saw put in great performances against North Little Rock’s conference rivals.
Even during the NFL draft I felt a sense of excitement when Hill went to the Chargers. A division rival of the Chiefs, it was still cool to me to see a Charging Wildcat make it to the biggest stage.
As a vocal adversary of the Dallas Cowboys, I also have to acknowledge that Jerry Jones attended the same high school as me, and I have to give him slight praise for that fact.
In recent times, Austin Reaves has taken the NBA world by storm with his performances with the Los Angeles Lakers. And would you believe it, Reaves attended Cedar Ridge High School all the way in the tiny town of Newark.
Making a name for himself at Wichita State and Oklahoma during his college days and now shining on the West Coast, it’s easy to forget Reaves’ Arkansas roots. Any
time he comes across my social media feeds or my friends’ feeds, we always send the post that includes him in our group message and say, “JUST A KID FROM NEWARK!”
Although I attended multiple North Little Rock basketball state championship games in my time as a student there, for some reason that
I’ve forgotten, I chose not to attend perhaps the highest profile of all the state title games during my time as a Charging Wildcat.
Bentonville’s Malik Monk took on North Little Rock’s KeVaughn Allen in a matchup of heavyweights for the state championship. North Little Rock won, of course, and Monk went on to Kentucky and Allen to Florida.
Funny enough, even though I didn’t watch that game, I saw Monk play years later in the NCAA tournament for Kentucky in Memphis when Monk and De’Aaron Fox took on Lonzo Ball and UCLA.
Now Monk has made a decent name for himself in the NBA, representing yet another thrilling athlete from The Natural State.
Shoutout to northeast Arkansas once again, as before Monk was a kid from Bentonville, he was, “JUST A KID FROM LEPANTO!”
At times it’s easy to complain in Arkansas that we don’t have a top-level professional sports team, but with plenty of Division I universities and colleges of all levels spread throughout the state — along with some great high school programs — don’t forget that sometimes the best athletes are right in front of you. Enjoy all the talent this state has to offer.