PROVIDENCE — Boogie Fland didn't have to return to the floor for the Razorbacks this season.
A projected NBA Draft pick in April, the freshman point guard could have continued to sit after his January 22 thumb surgery and wait until the Draft Combine and individual workouts with prospective NBA teams. Honestly, it's likely that no one would blame him. But that's not the choice he made.
News broke last Saturday when Seth Greenberg said on ESPN that first-year Hogs head coach John Calipari had texted him saying, barring a setback, Fland would be available for the first round of the NCAA Tournament, which we now know will be Thursday against the 7-seed Kansas Jayhawks in Providence, Rhode Island.
Calipari updated the media Sunday and said the former five-star looked good to go after the Hogs' practice. While healthy earlier in the year, Fland averaged 15.1 points, 5.7 assists and 3.4 rebounds per game.
Fland's coach at Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, New York — Patrick Massaroni — talked with HawgBeat about his former player's desire to get back to the court.
"Boogie's a high-character kid," Massaroni told HawgBeat. "He comes from a great family dynamic...he doesn't get a lot of credit for his overall impact by being a great teammate, being so well-liked by the individuals that are not a part of basketball off the court."
Fland, a New York City native, hasn't played since Jan. 18 in the Hogs' loss to Missouri in Columbia. He hurt his thumb two games prior against Florida, but tried to push through until the decision was made that he would have thumb surgery.
The surgery came four days later on Jan. 22, when it was performed by a doctor in New York City. Fland stayed in the northeast for a few weeks while he was recovering and that gave him a chance to make a stop back at his old stomping grounds.
"He came to practice (at Stepinac) when he was able to get out of the house," Massaroni said. "So he came back and talked to the guys. (Stepinac) had a game and he snuck in and sat upstairs so he could, one protect his hand and two, just try to be a normal person."
When he was on the floor for 18 games earlier this season, Fland was electric. His 5.7 assists per game still ranks second in the SEC, and he only scored less than 10 points three times, with one of those games coming while he was dealing with the thumb injury.
Even against LSU on Jan. 14, one game after his injury, he dropped 19 points and had five assists in the Hogs' 78-74 loss to the Tigers.
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Not long after the surgery, Fland returned to Fayetteville, where he's been with the team throughout their push to make the NCAA Tournament. He continued to rehab with the training staff, and now after 15 games, he's ready to make his return.
"I don't think he ever wanted to be out," Massaroni said. "But that's just unfortunately what happened. But he was optimistic, he knew this time was a time to rehab. Me and some others on our staff said 'oh man, your left hand is going to become pretty good."
There are still questions about Fland's return, though. The elephant in the room is how well the team has played in recent weeks, and even Calipari said that chemistry is something Fland doesn't want to mess up. But his return provides an extra body for a team that already has a dangerously short rotation.
"I don't think he does (want to ruin the chemistry)," Massaroni said. " I just think he wants to come in and be able to help the team in whatever way to try to get it done Thursday and be impactful, whether it's five minutes or 30 minutes."
Fland will have the opportunity to make that impact on Thursday, when the 10-seed Razorbacks take on the 7-seed Kansas Jayhawks in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Tipoff is set for 6:10 p.m. CT and the game will air on CBS.
HawgBeat has boots on the ground in Providence, so stay tuned to our homepage and our YouTube channel for the latest news about Arkansas in the NCAA Tournament.
