By Nate Allen
Special to the News-Times
ROGERS - Arkansas had been on the list of teams scheduled to play in the Puerto Rico Basketball Classic, but the Razorbacks no longer are headed there with the Classic still in limbo from facility damage wreaked by Hurricane Maria last September.
Coach Mike Anderson Monday at the golf tournament his charitable foundation hosts at the Shadow Valley Country Club said of playing in 2018 in Puerto Rico: “At this time we’re not planning on it. We’re not going to be able to go there.”
Anything new ready for announcement on next season’s non-conference schedule?
“Not at this point,” Anderson said. “Obviously you know we’re playing Texas in the opening game in the Armed Forces Classic out in El Paso. We also are in the process of learning … of course the SEC-Big 12 Challenge will be coming up this year as well. We’ve also got to go to Colorado State. That’s where we play those guys. But we’re right there at the cusp of really kind of hammering out our schedule right now.
“It’s unfortunate what took place there. And I’m sure that they’ll eventually get the tournament back down there. I don’t know where it’ll be at this year.”
Anderson was asked if there was any medical news that could change the status of guard Khalil Garland, the Little Rock Parkview grad that the Razorbacks redshirted last year because of a medical condition that didn’t allow him to be cleared to play.
“He still hasn’t been cleared to play,” Anderson said.
Do they still hold out hope that the condition improves to the point that Garland can be cleared?
“Yes, yes, very hopeful,” Anderson said. “We’ll see what takes place as the summer goes on and we get into the fall. We’ll see where we are at that point in time.”
Garland remains a UA student.
Arkansas returns but three scholarship lettermen, All-SEC sophomore center Daniel Gafford of El Dorado, sophomore forward Gabe Osabuohien and junior forward Adrio Bailey from last season’s 23-12 team.
So Anderson said it’s more important than ever for this nearly brand new team to start bonding when they report to Fayetteville at the end of the month to ready for the start of summer classes.
Anderson’s tournament, attracting a number of former Razorbacks basketball greats, including coach Nolan Richardson, Todd Day, Oliver Miller and Charles Balentine among others in addition to former Razorbacks golfing great John Daly and coaches including Tubby Smith, a friend of Richardson and Anderson and respected rival from coaching Tulsa, Georgia, Kentucky and Texas Tech against the Hogs, and Rob Evans, the former Ole Miss and Arizona State head coach and former Arkansas assistant, has benefited projects including Children’s Hospital in Little Rock and prostate cancer treatment and research, Anderson said.
The prostate cancer aspect hit home hard to Anderson upon attending the recent funeral of Mike Slive, known to Anderson as the SEC Commissioner and previously the Conference USA commissioner when Anderson coached Alabama-Birmingham in Conference USA.
“He was a big proponent of prostate cancer awareness,” Anderson said. “It’s something that’s in my family. So if I can help raise funds for that, then I’ll all for it. That’s what we’re doing here.”
Anderson called Slive “a visionary.”
“He obviously was a brilliant man,” Anderson said of Slive improving the SEC financially and competitively. “He made a lot of guys happy. He made a lot of ADs happy and a lot of universities happy. But more than that, he was a down-to-earth kind of guy.”