Transfer Tracker: Updates on former Arkansas coaches, players
Not a subscriber? Subscribe for free for 30 days w/code HAWGS30
NEW USERS | RETURNING USERS
With wins over West Virginia and Arizona, Mike Anderson had St. John’s in a good spot as it concluded its non-conference schedule.
The Red Storm received some votes in the AP poll with an 11-2 record and were set to begin Big East play with a home game against No. 11 Butler.
However, much like when he was at Arkansas and facing them in the NCAA Tournament, Anderson saw his team dig out of a massive hole against the Bulldogs only to come up short.
St. John’s turned a 23-point deficit into a five-point lead in a span of about 15 minutes, but Butler scored the final seven points of the game to pull out a 60-58 victory. That has seemingly sent the Red Storm into a tailspin, as they’ve won just one of their seven Big East games and are now 12-8.
That is still better than the other former Arkansas coach still active as a Division I head coach, though.
In his first season at Tennessee Tech, John Pelphrey is 5-15 overall and 2-5 in the Ohio Valley Conference. Two of those victories were against NAIA schools.
If there’s a silver lining, it’s that after laying down and having a good bleed, the Golden Eagles have won two of their last three OVC games - beating SIU-Edwardsville on the road and Morehead State at home. They were projected to lose both by ESPN’s Basketball Power Index.
Since being fired by the Razorbacks, Pelphrey was an assistant at Florida and Alabama for four and three seasons, respectively, sandwiched around a year in which he worked as an analyst for the SEC Network.
His predecessor, Stan Heath, is also still coaching, but as the head coach of the Lakeland Magic in the NBA G League. They are 15-13 and tied for sixth place out of 15 teams in the Eastern Conference.
Here’s a look at how several of Arkansas’ former players are doing at their new schools…
Ibrahim Ali - Tulane
A late add to Arkansas’ 2018 class, “Ibby” Ali never appeared in a game while redshirting last season. Despite his 6-foot-10, 244-pound frame, the Nigeria native averaged just 4.0 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.2 blocks as a senior at Maumelle. Now at Tulane, where he received a waiver for immediate eligibility, Ali played two minutes in the season opener before going down with a foot injury. He returned to action last week, but has played a total of only six minutes in losses to UCF and Tulsa, notching two points, one rebound, one block and one steal.
2019-20 stats: 3 games/0 starts, 2.5 min., 0.7 pts., 0.3 reb., 0.7 blk., 0.3 stl.
Keyshawn Embery-Simpson - Tulsa
One of the Razorbacks’ top freshmen last year, Embery-Simpson was a four-star prospect and the No. 117 overall player in the Class of 2018, according to Rivals. He was a key contributor off the bench, averaging 4.1 points in 14.6 minutes. The high point of his time in Fayetteville came when he scored 16 points in a road upset of LSU and made the go-ahead three-pointer with 14.8 seconds left to beat Vanderbilt in back-to-back games. However, just two days after Mike Anderson was fired, Embery-Simpson entered the NCAA transfer portal. He ultimately moved back home to play at Tulsa, but his waiver for immediate eligibility was denied.
2019-20 stats: N/A
R.J. Glasper - Arkansas Tech
Known as a prolific scorer at Forrest City, Glasper turned down scholarships to smaller schools to walk-on at Arkansas. After redshirting while recovering from shoulder surgery in 2016-17, he decided to transfer to Arkansas Tech, a Division II program in Russellville. Now halfway through his third season with the Wonder Boys, Glasper has scored 1,330 career points and has already cracked the school’s career top-10 list for assists, with 353. He has averaged 19.9, 18.4 and 18.3 points per game the last three years. Interestingly, he was listed as 5-foot-10 while at Arkansas, but is listed two inches taller at Arkansas Tech, making him 6 feet tall.
2019-20 stats: 16 games/15 starts, 34.4 min., 18.3 pts. (41.5 FG%, 39.6 3PT%, 83.6 FT%), 3.2 reb., 6.6 ast., 1.5 stl.
Darious Hall - DePaul
After starting five games and playing significant minutes as a true freshman for the Razorbacks in 2017-18, Hall made the surprising decision to transfer. He landed at DePaul, where he had to sit out last season because of NCAA transfer rules. Eligible to play for the Blue Demons this year, the 6-foot-7 forward is a key contributor off the bench. Hall is averaging 4.5 points and 4.9 rebounds in 18.9 minutes per game, helping DePaul to a 13-6 record that includes a 1-5 mark in Big East play. That lone conference victory was a shocking 79-66 win over No. 5 Butler in which he had three points and three rebounds.
2019-20 stats: 19 games/0 starts, 18.9 min., 4.5 pts. (39.2 FG%, 54.9 FT%), 4.9 reb.
Brachen Hazen - Ball State
Hazen played sparing as a freshman at Arkansas in 2016-17 and opted to transfer closer to home. He landed at Ball State, which is just 1.5 hours from his hometown of Columbia City, Ind. Following his NCAA-mandated redshirt year, the 6-foot-8 forward made a splash in his debut with the Cardinals by scoring 15 points and grabbing nine rebounds against in-state foe Indiana State. Unfortunately, a back injury sidelined him for 15 games that season and he ended up averaging 5.7 points on 57.6 percent shooting and 4.1 rebounds in 17 games, including a pair of starts. Now healthy, Hazen is again a key bench player for Ball State and has made another couple of starts while averaging 4.8 points and 3.7 rebounds.
2019-20 stats: 16 games/2 starts, 15.7 min., 4.8 pts. (49.1 FG%, 34.8 3PT%, 60.9 FT%), 3.7 reb., 1.1 ast.
Justice Hill - Salt Lake C.C.
In an unusual move, Hill - the Razorbacks’ lone 2019 signee - decided to skip his senior season of high school basketball and enroll in school a semester early to practice with his future teammates. The 5-foot-11 (listed as 6 feet tall at Salt Lake C.C.) point guard was also a talented athlete on the gridiron, helping Little Rock Christian win a state title and being named Gatorade Player of the Year in Arkansas for football. There were talks of him trying to play both sports with the Razorbacks. Not only did that never come to fruition, but Hill also never played a game for the Arkansas basketball team. He transferred over the summer and decided to take the junior college route. Through 23 games, Hill is the Bruins’ leading scorer at 13.8 points per game and top distributor at 4.6 assists per game.
2019-20 stats: 23 games/22 starts, 27.4 min., 13.8 pts. (43.6 FG%, 34.8 3PT%, 69.1 FT%), 3.1 reb., 4.6 ast., 1.3 stl.
Lorenzo Jenkins - Grand Canyon
A late add to Arkansas’ 2015 signing class, Jenkins appeared in just one game while in Fayetteville. He transferred to Colorado State, where he actually got to face the Razorbacks twice, but hit the transfer portal again this offseason and ended up at Grand Canyon as a graduate transfer. Just a little bit past the halfway point of the season, Jenkins has already made nearly as many starts and scored almost as many points with the Antelopes as he did in two seasons with the Rams. He’s scored in double figures 10 times, including a 20-point effort in a win over Montana State.
2019-20 stats: 19 games/7 starts, 8.6 pts. (45.5 FG%, 25.9 3PT%, 81.6 FT%), 2.7 reb.
C.J. Jones - Middle Tennessee
Jones has experienced a very similar career path as former Arkansas player Jacorey Williams, minus the off-court issues. Both players attended Central Park Christian in Birmingham, Ala., began their collegiate careers with the Razorbacks and ultimately transferred to Middle Tennessee State where they had a lot of success. Williams ultimately earned C-USA Player of the Year and honorable mention All-America honors while leading the Blue Raiders to the NCAA Tournament. Jones likely won’t garner the same accolades this season because Middle Tennessee is just 4-16, but he leading the team in scoring at 16.3 points per game and is shooting nearly 40 percent from beyond the arc - marks that rank fifth and second in the conference, respectively. As a redshirt junior, he has another year of eligibility after this season.
2019-20 stats: 20 games/20 starts, 34.2 min., 16.3 pts. (44.1 FG%, 39.7 3PT%, 87.8 FT%), 2.8 reb.
Gabe Osabuohien - West Virginia
Dismissed from the team in August for a violation of team rules, Osabuohien landed at West Virginia and was granted immediate eligibility by the NCAA. Although he’s started just one game for the Mountaineers, he’s been a key player off their bench and done many of the same things he did at Arkansas - played solid defense, drawn charges and rebounded well - despite not being much of an offensive threat. In fact, Osabuohien leads West Virginia in steals even though he’s missed three games and averages less than 20 minutes per game. He’s helped the Mountaineers to a 15-3 record and No. 14 ranking in the latest AP poll.
2019-20 stats: 15 games/1 start, 18.1 min., 2.7 pts. (39.0 FG%, 40.0 FT%), 4.0 reb., 2.1 ast., 1.4 stl.
Jordan Phillips - Texas-Arlington
Phillips was a Rivals150 prospect as a 6-foot-7 forward coming out of Grace Prep in Arlington, Texas, but he lasted just one semester at Arkansas. Offseason meniscus surgery kept him off the court at the beginning of his freshman season and then averaged just 5.4 minutes over seven appearances before deciding to transfer closer to home, landing at Texas-Arlington. Because he transferred midseason, Phillips was believed to be ineligible until mid-December, but the NCAA granted him a waiver for immediate eligibility this season. In and out of the starting lineup during non-conference play, Phillips has started the Mavericks’ last seven Sun Belt games, reaching double figures in four of them. That stretch was highlighted by an 18-point performance in a loss at UALR.
2019-20 stats: 20 games/12 starts, 23.1 min., 7.5 pts. (35.5 FG%, 29.8 3PT%, 73.1 FT%), 3.8 reb., 1.4 ast.