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Senior Dustin Thomas dismissed from basketball team
All-American kicker keeping options open
The regular season has come to a close, and the SEC rolled out its annual postseason awards Tuesday, naming Jaylen Barford (first team All-SEC), Daryl Macon (second team All-SEC) and Daniel Gafford (SEC All-Freshman selection) to its all-conference squads. According to a press release, this is the ninth time Arkansas has landed three of its members on postseason teams since joining the SEC.
Barford, a JUCO transfer from Motlow State CC, caught the attention of Razorback fans with his patented scoring runs and tremendous ability to finish at the rim. He finished the year averaging 17.9 points (third in the SEC) and 3.9 rebounds while shooting 46.7 percent from the field (sixth in the SEC) and a career-high 43.4 percent from three (second in the SEC). Barford recorded his career-high 28 points twice this season, against Tennessee and at Florida. He became the seventh player in Arkansas history to reach 1,000 career points in two years on Senior Night against Auburn.
Like Barford, Macon was also a JUCO product that quickly made a name for himself in the SEC for his ability to score the basketball. The Little Rock (Ark.) native earned SEC Player of the Week honors three times this season, averaging 17.1 points and 4.0 assists on 46.3 percent shooting from the field and 43.8 percent from deep (first in the SEC). Macon scored 20-plus points in seven straight games, joining former Hog Corliss Williamson as the only Razorbacks to do so in the SEC era. He joined Barford in the 1,000 point club on Senior Night, becoming the sixth player in Arkansas history to accomplish that feat in two seasons.
El Dorado’s (Ark.) own Daniel Gafford has been a human highlight reel for the Razorbacks this season, recording 68 dunks (more than six SEC teams) and 68 blocks. He put up 12.7 points and 6.2 rebounds during the conference slate, earning him SEC Freshman of the Week on three different occasions. Gafford’s block-to-windmill slam sequence against Vanderbilt earned him the second spot on SportsCenter’s Top 10 Plays segment. The freshman scored in double figures in 13 games and shot 60.7 percent from the field (sixth in the nation among freshmen).
Following Saturday’s loss to Missouri, Arkansas earned the six-seed in the SEC tournament this weekend. The Razorbacks will play the winner of the South Carolina (11-seed) versus Ole Miss (14-seed) game on Thursday night at approximately 8:30 pm (CST) at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis (Mo.).
