Thursday, November 29, 2012

TAT: Telling Syracuse's Storied History


This article originally appeared in the November 29, 2012 issue of The Arkansas Traveler.

     Since their first official season in 1900-1901, the Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team has grown into a national power.
     Their 1,844 wins at the end of last season is the fifth most in NCAA Division I history, behind Kentucky, North Carolina, Kansas and Duke.
     Syracuse enjoyed some success in their early history with future NBA Hall of Famer Dave Bing. Bing led the Orange to an Elite Eight appearance as a senior in 1966.
     From 1973 to 1976, they appeared in four consecutive NCAA Tournaments including a Final Four in 1975, led by head coach Roy Danforth. Danforth’s success caught the attention of Tulane and he was eventually hired to be their head coach.
     Following Danforth’s departure, the Orange hired a young assistant coach named Jim Boeheim. Since Boeheim’s first season in 1976-77, they have not had a losing record and have made 29 NCAA Tournaments.
     They have failed to win 20 games in a season only twice during Boeheim’s tenure and five times they have won 30 or more games.
     After falling short in the 1987 and 1996 National Championship games, losing to Indiana and Kentucky, respectively, Syracuse finally won a title in 2003. They were led by star freshmen Carmelo Anthony and Gerry McNamara and sophomore Hakim Warrick.
     Now, Anthony is an All-Star in the NBA with the New York Knicks and Warrick is a member of the Charlotte Bobcats. McNamara is currently an assistant for the Orange.
     Since their championship, Syracuse has continued to have success. They won their fourth and fifth Big East Tournament Championships in 2005 and 2006.
     Last year, they finished the regular season with an impressive 30-1 overall record, but they fell to Cincinnati in the semifinals of the Big East Tournament. Entering the NCAA Tournament as the No. 2 overall seed, they won their first three games, before losing to Ohio State in the Elite Eight.
     In this year’s draft, two Syracuse players were selected in the first round. Guard Dion Waiters was the fourth overall pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers and center Fab Melo was the 22nd overall pick by the Boston Celtics.
     Forward Kris Joseph was also drafted by the Celtics in the second round as the 51st overall pick.
     Despite losing nearly half of their scoring players from last year, the Orange came into the season as the No. 9 team in the AP Preseason poll. Their recruiting class was ranked No. 15 in the country by Scout.com and included five-star center DaJuan Coleman and four-star forward Jerami Grant.
     So far this season, the Orange are 4-0, averaging 77.5 points per game. Senior Brandon Triche is tied for the team lead in scoring, with 15.3 points per game. He also averages 3.5 rebounds per game and three assists per game.
     They will put their No. 6 ranking in the AP poll on the line tomorrow night against the Razorbacks at 7:30 p.m. in Bud Walton Arena.

Monday, November 26, 2012

TAT: Will the Golden Boot Series Return to Fayetteville?


This article originally appeared in the November 26, 2012 issue of The Arkansas Traveler.

     For the first time since 1992, the annual Battle for the Golden Boot game between Arkansas and LSU was played in Fayetteville Friday.
     When the 2012 schedule was released and the LSU game was set for Fayetteville, UA Athletic Director Jeff Long said that it was on a one-time basis and future home sites for the LSU game were yet to be determined.
     Kevin Trainor, associate athletic director for public relations, reiterated this, saying the venues for Razorback home football games were decided “year-to-year.”
     The decision for this year’s LSU game being in Fayetteville fell back to several reasons, Trainor said.
     “With two road games before (playing LSU) and a short week, it was best to have it in Fayetteville,” Trainor said.
     Having the game in Fayetteville also allowed more fans to come to the game, as Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium has a capacity of 72,000, compared to 54,120 in Little Rock at War Memorial Stadium.
     Despite the disappointing season, several fans were still excited for the Battle for the Golden Boot, including Nicole Allbritton, Arkansas Alumni Association assistant director for communication.
     “I think it’s a great idea that (the LSU game) was moved up here,” Allbritton said. “Even though it happens during Thanksgiving, people still reschedule their Thanksgiving plans around this game.”
     Graham Stewart, the executive director of the Alumni Association, was glad the game was in Fayetteville because “otherwise, I’d have to drive to Little Rock the day after Thanksgiving.”
     However, he thinks the “passionate fans in Little Rock” will result in the game not permanently being played in Fayetteville. Allbritton agreed and predicted that the game will be played in both Fayetteville and Little Rock in the future.
     “I think it’ll be rotating,” Allbritton said. “I don’t think we’ll get lucky enough to have it (in Fayetteville) every year.”
     With the addition of Texas A&M and Missouri into the Southeastern Conference, there have been rumors that Texas A&M could replace Arkansas as LSU’s final regular season game.
     Instead, Missouri would become Arkansas’ new post-Thanksgiving opponent. Allbritton doesn’t want this to happen because it would ruin a tradition.
     “Every year Thanksgiving rolls around and everyone is saying, ‘Who is going to win the Golden Boot this year?’” Allbritton said. “I would hate to lose that traditional game.”
     Next year, the game is set to return to Baton Rouge, La., for LSU’s turn as the home team. The 2014 season is still up in the air, though.
     The SEC Commissioner is still coordinating the new schedules for all of the conference members. An announcement on the date of the LSU game won’t be made until the SEC releases all of the schedules and an announcement of the venue for the LSU game will be made following that.

Monday, November 19, 2012

TAT: Five Keys vs. LSU


This article originally appeared in the November 19, 2012 Football Edition of The Arkansas Traveler.
1. Keep Cool Heads
Rivalry games are always emotional games, especially when they are competitive. Even when Arkansas has had a down year, they have still been competitive in the annual Battle for the Golden Boot. In 2008, Arkansas was 4-7 heading into a game against a 7-4 LSU team. Despite not being bowl eligible, they pulled off the upset, winning 31-30. With a tight score like this, emotions will be running high. However, if Arkansas expects to have a chance against a highly-ranked LSU team this year, they have to keep calm. Penalties for late hits and unsportsmanlike conduct will give LSU better field position and more opportunities to score.
2. Score in the Red Zone
Arkansas’ offense has moved the ball well this year, but they stall out once they get inside the 20-yard line. Heading into the Mississippi State game, the Razorbacks’ 72 percent success rate in the red zone was 106th out of 120 teams in the country. With LSU’s defense only allowing 262.9 yards per game, points will be scarce and Arkansas must capitalize when they get close to the end zone. Turnovers in the red zone, like the fumble against South Carolina, will kill any chance Arkansas has. They must come away with at least three, if not seven, points every time they reach the 20-yard line against LSU.
3. Win Third Downs
The Razorbacks have only converted on 36.8 percent of their third-down opportunities, which is 86th in the country. LSU has also struggled on third downs, only converting 41.6 percent of the time. The difference will be which defense allows the most third-down conversions. The Tigers are 10th in the country in third-down defense while Arkansas is 54th. The Razorbacks need to find a way to move the ball on third downs against LSU’s stout defense in order to keep drives alive. The longer their drives last, the more tired LSU’s defense will be, making them susceptible to big plays by senior wide receiver Cobi Hamilton or senior running back Dennis Johnson.
4. Pin Them On Deep Punts
Senior punter Dylan Breeding has had a stellar career at Arkansas. His average of 45.8 yards per punt is seventh-best in the country. He has also pinned teams inside the 20-yard line 15 times this season. LSU’s defense will inevitably force Arkansas to punt several times, and when they do, Breeding needs to pin the Tigers deep in their own territory. In a game where scoring will be at a premium, the longer LSU must go to score, the more likely it is that Arkansas’ defense can stop them.
5. Protect Tyler Wilson
Yet again, Arkansas will be facing a team that sacks the quarterback a lot. This will be the sixth time they have faced a team ranked in the top 25 in the country for total sacks. After 10 games, LSU has 26 sacks, which is tied for 25th most. The offensive line for the Razorbacks must keep senior quarterback Tyler Wilson on his feet so he can have a good performance in his last game in Fayetteville. Arkansas’ offense starts and stops with Wilson, and if he doesn’t play well, Arkansas typically doesn’t score very many points, which leads to losing.

TAT: Cobi Hamilton: A Breakout Performer In a Dismal Season


This article originally appeared in the November 19, 2012 Football Edition of The Arkansas Traveler.
     Deborah Hamilton didn’t let her son play football growing up because it was too violent and she didn’t want him to get hurt.
     Instead, Cobi Hamilton played baseball as a centerfielder. From his childhood years until his freshman year in high school, he played with guys like former Razorback second baseman Bo Bigham and current Razorback pitcher Randall Fant.
     “In my mind, he was a baseball player,” Deborah Hamilton said.
     Then, one day in P.E., he was playing football with some of his friends. One of them threw Cobi the ball and he caught the pass, as well as the attention of the football coaches.
Late Bloomer
     When Hamilton joined the Texas High football team in Texarkana, Texas, he was just a “tall, thin kid,” Texas High head coach Barry Norton said.
     Because he had never played football before, Hamilton needed to start with the basics. As an underclassman, he worked with an assistant coach on his running form every morning.
     “Early on he was just learning to play, but he was a guy I saw potential in,” Norton said. “Once he learned how to run, he won the 200-meter state championship in track.”
     Hamilton brought that speed to the field and started to develop it over his junior season. That season, he caught 29 passes for 726 yards and seven touchdowns.
     By the time his senior year rolled around, he was primed for a breakout season.
     “He worked extremely hard,” Norton said. “He would stay after practice and work even more. Every Thursday, he would make the quarterbacks stay with him and work on routes.”
     His hard work paid off in the form of 64 receptions for 14 touchdowns and a single-season school record of 1,071 yards.
     He was named the All-Northeast Texas Offensive Player of the Year as awards started piling up. Rivals.com rated him as the No. 63 receiver in the country, Scout.com rated him as No. 108 in the country, and he earned All-District and All-Area honors.
     Nine Football Bowl Subdivision, formerly Division IA, schools offered Hamilton a scholarship, including Auburn, Oklahoma State and Texas.
Becoming a Razorback
     However, he decided to follow in the footsteps of his mother and become an Arkansas Razorback. Deborah Hamilton, formerly Deborah Cooper, was a guard on the 1976-77 Razorback women’s basketball team and was one of the first two African-American women to play basketball at Arkansas.
     When Hamilton arrived as part of the 2009 recruiting class, Arkansas had a lot of depth at wide receiver. In the 2008 recruiting class, Joe Adams, Greg Childs and Jarius Wright signed with the Razorbacks.
     “I put in a lot of time being behind all of those great receivers and learning the little things from them,” Hamilton said.
     Although he didn’t get a lot of passes thrown his way, he did show flashes of great play.
     Against Mississippi State, as a freshman, Hamilton caught three passes for 131 yards, including a 64-yard touchdown and 58-yard touchdown. During his sophomore year, he caught seven passes for 111 yards against South Carolina and had a breakout performance against LSU in Little Rock.
     After his first reception lost a yard, his next two receptions were 80- and 85-yard touchdowns. The second came as time expired in the second quarter, giving Arkansas a 21-14 lead at the half, which ultimately led to a victory and Sugar Bowl berth.
     During his junior year, he had one 100-yard game, with 132 yards against New Mexico, but again, he wasn’t consistent throughout the season.
     “When we had Jarius, Joe and Greg here, everyone talked about Cobi as the 200-meter guy that takes a while to get going, but when he gets down field, he can really blow by some people,” senior quarterback Tyler Wilson said.
     So as he did in high school, Hamilton started working with an assistant coach, but this time he was looking to improve his quickness, not speed.
Stellar Senior Season
     “I got real serious in the weight room two years ago, and I really wanted to focus on my quickness off the line of scrimmage,” Hamilton said.
     Hamilton’s statistics prove that his work paid off yet again. He has become much more consistent and evolved from the “200 meter guy.”
     Coming into the season, he only had four 100-yard receiving games in 39 games, but has matched that total through just 11 games this season.
     “He’s explosive,” Wilson said. “He’s done a great job of figuring out how to get off the line quicker and that has made him such a dynamic receiver.”
     UA offensive coordinator Paul Petrino has also pointed to Hamilton’s quickness as something that makes him stand out among other receivers.
     “He has an ability to stop and get out of his breaks,” Petrino said. “That’s what separates the good from the great, who can get separation at the top of their routes.”
     With the graduation of Adams, Childs and Wright, Hamilton has vaulted into the number-one role. More than a third of Wilson’s completions this season have been to Hamilton.
     “It’s important to have one receiver that you have a really good relationship with, so when you’re in trouble, you can get it in their hands,” Wilson said. “That’s Cobi for me.”
     The relationship between Wilson and Hamilton can be traced back several months before the season to the “countless hours we met on the hot turf, which carried over to fall camp and that carried over to the season,” Hamilton said.
     Despite going up against the opposing team’s top defender and sometimes facing double teams, he has still managed to put up big numbers. He now holds the UA single-season records for receptions, with 80, and receiving yards, with 1,237, which he set earlier this season.
     Against Rutgers, Hamilton hauled in 303 receiving yards, breaking a UA and Southeastern Conference single-game record.
     School records for career receptions and receiving yards are also seemingly within reach. He only needs 4 receptions and 179 receiving yards against LSU to pass Jarius Wright for first in UA history.
     Wright, who is now in the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings, has taken notice.
     “It’s good to see the lil bro @CobiHam11 breaking my records. I’ve watched him grow into a premier player,” Wright tweeted before Arkansas played South Carolina.
     Other awards have started coming in. He was the SEC co-Offensive Player of the Week after playing Rutgers. He was named to the Maxwell Award Watch List. Most recently, he was named one of 10 semifinalists for the Biletnikoff Award, which is awarded to the country’s best wide receiver.
Finishing Strong
     Hamilton is moving up the record books, but Arkansas’ season has not gone the way he, nor anyone else, expected. After rising to a No. 8 ranking in the AP poll, their record has fallen to 4-7 overall and 2-5 in the SEC, meaning they will not make a bowl game for the first time since 2008.
     “It’s been like a roller coaster ride,” Hamilton said. “You want to feel like you’re on top of the world (after big games), but after tough losses, you have your lows.”
     The losses haven’t deterred him, though. He will continue to work as he has since high school and enjoy his remaining time as a Razorback before graduating, not necessarily focusing on the records he could potentially break.
     “I just go out there and compete, that’s what it comes down to on Saturdays. Make plays and have fun,” Hamilton said. “I want to finish the season well and enjoy being with my teammates. Whatever numbers I end up with, that’s just what it is.”