Hogs’ assistant checks in on newcomers to U.S.
Arkansas associate men’s basketball coach Melvin Watkins traveled to Pennsylvania on Wednesday to check on two 2016 big men prospects.
Watkins saw Scotland Performance Institute power forward Cheickna Dembele and center Aleksandar Zecevic, and it appears Coach Mike Anderson might make a trip to the school.
“They’re going to kind of go back and talk it over, and maybe the head coach will come out and take a look at both of them,” said Isiah Anderson, who founded the school.
Dembele, 6-10, 235, has scholarship offers from Iowa State, Missouri, North Carolina State, St. Joseph’s, UNC-Charlotte and LaSalle. He also is drawing interest from numerous other schools. He’s from Mali, a nation of more than 14 million people in Western Africa.
Zecevic, 6-10, 250, is from Serbia and is drawing interest from Arkansas, Cleveland State, Hofstra and several other schools on the East Coast. He’s averaging 15 points and 10 rebounds a game.
He and Dembele arrived in the United States about five months ago.
“I think both of those guys may take visits [to Arkansas],” Isiah Anderson said. “My gut instinct says … you might have a better shot at getting the Serbia kid. That would be my guess.”
Anderson said Zecevic is a highly skilled player who excels in the paint.
“He’s a shooter for a kid that size, but boy he can really post up,” Anderson said. “He can really, really post up. That’s becoming such a rarity these days. I think that’s what really impressed coach. Every big kid wants to shoot, and this kid wants to play inside and bang.”
Dembele is averaging 20 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocked shots while shooting 80 percent from the freethrow line.
“It’s very early for Cheickna. I’m not suggesting he won’t take a visit, he just has pretty much … I believe North Carolina called today,” Anderson said. “So he’s becoming a national recruit.”
He will likely start to narrow his list soon, but Anderson believes a visit from the Hogs’ head coach might help get an official visit.
“He’s from Mali in Africa, and he doesn’t like cold weather,” Anderson said. “So the warm states have a shot.”
JUCO AWARD
Arkansas point guard signee Jaylen Barford was named the Tennessee Community College Athletic Association Player of the Year earlier in the week.
“It was an honor. It feels great,” Barford said. “I didn’t think I was going to get it, honestly, but I’m happy I got it, and I’m just enjoying the moment. I really forgot about all that stuff. I’ve just been focused on the season.”
Barford, 6-4, 205, of Motlow Community College in McMinnville, Tenn., narrowed his list of more than 20 scholarship offers to Arkansas, Memphis, Missouri, Ole Miss and Xavier before signing with the Hogs in November.
He ranks second nationally among junior college players in scoring with 25.8 points per game while shooting 60.1 percent from the field and 36.6 percent from beyond the three-point line. He acknowledged working hard on his game but wanted to thank his teammates for pushing him.
“I just want to thank my teammates for making me go hard in practice and compete every day to make me take tough shots and make me take even better shots,” Barford said.
Barford, who also averages 7.2 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 2.8 steals a game, carries more bulk than most college guards. He has a 245-pound bench press and 405 squat.
“It helps me a lot because we lift during the week,” said Barford, who’s shooting 78.3 percent from the free-throw line. “It helps making people bounce off of me sometimes. I can explode more. It’s helped me out a lot throughout this season, and I hope it helps me out next year, too.”
He averaged 20.6 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.4 steals and 5.1 assists per game last season and was named an honorable mention junior college All-American. Coach Mike Anderson has talked to him about his role in Fayetteville.
“Just lead the team and make plays for myself and other players, which I can do well,” Barford said. “So I’ll just bring over what I brought to Juco and be more aggressive and lead even more.”
Assistant coach T.J. Cleveland recruited Barford at Jackson South Side High School in Tennessee before he attended junior college. He said signing with the Razorbacks is surreal.
“Yes it is because just three years ago I was watching them on TV… and it just feels great to be in this position,” Barford said. “It’s really humbling.”
Email Richard Davenport at rdavenport@arkansasonline.com