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Weekly UpdatesLooking to explain the uphill climb facing the Razorbacks entering John Pelphrey's third season as coach?
It basically takes one word to sum up the issues currently facing Arkansas basketball.
Internet second-guessing, coffee shop gossip and water cooler concern can be boiled down to one word, nine letters.
That word is "stability."
There has been none with Arkansas' roster since Pelphrey took over in April 2007. Continuity is crucial in any successful endeavor, and Arkansas hasn't had it for a while.
Don't mistake this as an indictment of Pelphrey or his abilities as a head coach. Nor is this meant as excuse-making vehicle.
Lack of stability is just the reality facing a program that was in decline long before Pelphrey arrived. The coach, entering his third season, inherited much of the current mess and has been unable to improve it in his short time here.
This is the second consecutive summer of massive roster overhaul. Arkansas is scheduled to welcome seven new scholarship players to campus for the upcoming school year.
In all, there have been 15 scholarship players come and go under Pelphrey's watch for a variety of reasons.
Imagine if your business was set up to employ 13 people. And 15 employees came and went in a two-year span.
How productive would you be as a manager? How much continuity would there be? What chance of success would your business have?
Probably not much.
Unlike this time last year, when they were considering adding to the roster, Pelphrey and his staff should be finished recruiting. Unfortunately, player loss is still a very real possibility between now and August.
In fact, trimming the projected roster is a necessity before the new school year starts. Scholarships have been promised to 14 players and only 13 are available under NCAA rules.
Arkansas got a bit of a surprise when Michael Washington pulled out of the NBA Draft and announced his intention to return. Washington's somewhat unexpected return is good for a number of reasons, including the fact it could give the Razorbacks five starters back from a 14-16 team that finished 2-14 in the Southeastern Conference.
That's a start toward stability, but ...
Academics are a concern for at least two current roster members and as many as three incoming recruits. So, keep your fingers crossed.
And while Pelphrey MUST take control of the situation, these wheels were in motion long before he started driving the bus.
Arkansas has been in a constant state of flux since Nolan Richardson was fired in 2002. Officials scared of a racial discrimination lawsuit they were never going to lose rushed into the hiring of Kent State's one-year wonder, Stan Heath, whose offensive "game plan" and haughty personality proved to be his undoing.
About the time Heath seemed to have things headed in the right direction, the rug was pulled out from under him. After being told he was in good shape if he made the NCAA Tournament, Heath found out otherwise.
Dana Altman was hired to replace Heath. Altman left 24 hours after being introduced. Sometime while all that was going on and before Pelphrey arrived, point guard Sean McCurdy transferred.
And the hits keep coming.
Remember all the recent talk about the Razorbacks' 888 Academic Progress Rate? Arkansas was well below the 925 mandated by the NCAA and could face scholarship reductions in the coming years.
Poor APR scores are a natural byproduct of the sort of roster turnover Arkansas has endured. Player turnover is a natural byproduct of coaching changes and instability.
Think long and hard before rooting for another coaching change anytime soon.
REVOLVING DOOR OF RAZORBACKS
Arkansas has seen 15 players come and go since John Pelphrey was introduced as head coach on April 9, 2007. Reasons for players Leaving include transfers, exhausted eligibility and rules violations.
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