Hazen leaving Hogs after one season

ROGERS -- Sophomore-to-be forward Brachen Hazen of Fort Wayne, Ind., is leaving the Razorbacks basketball team after one season, Arkansas coach Mike Anderson confirmed Monday at the coach's annual charity golf tournament at the Shadow Valley Golf Club.

Hazen only logged 42 minutes in 14 games and apparently seeks transferring to a situation with more playing time.

"I got a request from Brachen Hazen, and we're giving his release," Anderson said. "He was seeking his release."

Was Hazen's request about playing time?

"I'm sure that was a big part of it," Anderson said.

What's the impact of his departure?

"You don't want to lose a guy, especially a guy like Brachen," Anderson said. "I think his upside, his potential, is big. It was just this year, with some guys that were playing well in front of him ... they were competing for playing time. I thought next year it would get a lot better for him. Then you've guys being seniors. With a guy who's a skilled forward like Brachen, it was just a just a matter of him maturing -- the maturation process. But you notice around the country, man, everybody's in a hurry to do something."

Will he continue recruiting for next season with Hazen's scholarship available?

"You know me, I never stop recruiting," Anderson said. "So as we move forward, my staff and I are daily seeking and trying to find some guys that can have an impact. The one thing you don't want to do is bring somebody in here and all of a sudden it's the same thing. It's like a revolving door. They come here, and they leave out. So if it's going to be someone, it's going to be the right person."

Senior to-be guards Jaylen Barford and Daryl Macon, both impactful as junior college transfers last season in taking the Hogs to 26-10 overall and 12-6 SEC records after the Hogs were 16-16 and 9-9 without them the previous, both took the NCAA allowed options of exploring NBA draft opportunities but, having not signed with agents which would have voided their collegiate eligibility, recently announced they removed their names from draft consideration and are returning as Razorbacks for their senior 2017-2018 season.

"I thought the process worked," Anderson said. "I supported whatever they did. Me and my staff did. We got the information to them, and they made the right decision, I think, in order to come back and get better."

Anderson believes both stand professional chances in 2018 building on the foundation they set in 2016-2017.

"The kind of year they had, to me, it's one of those deals where you put yourself on the list," Anderson said. "Now with a lot of offseason work and continuing to develop, continue to be impacting this team, they've got a chance to go up on the list. I'm excited about that."

Overall he's excited about the team's experience.

"Six seniors," Anderson said citing Barford, Macon, and fellow 2016-2017 junior college transfer forward Arlando Cook; three-year letterman forward Trey Thompson of Forrest City High; three-year letterman guard Anton Beard of North Little Rock and one-year letterman forward Dustin Thompson transferred from the University of Colorado. "I'm looking forward to getting the guys on campus this summer. That'll take place right at the end of this month. We'll start that process of getting ready for 2017-18."

The process predicates on picking up the same team chemistry established last season.

"I think it's key," Anderson said. "When you've got six seniors, it's got be one way or the other. They're all going to be on the same page, playing for the same common goal, or they're going to be trying to do their own thing. And I don't think these guys are those kind of players. I think it's going to continue to be an unselfish team. I think it's going to be one of those ... To me, this was a fun year. I think with this group coming up, it'll be even more fun."

Anderson was told that incoming freshman forward Daniel Gafford of El Dorado had tweeted about injuring the meniscus in his knee.

"He did?" Anderson replied. "I don't know what took place. But we'll see once he gets up here. He's scheduled to get into town next Saturday coming up. So we'll get our medical people to take a look at it and see where he's at."

Memphis coach Tubby Smith, a longtime friend of Anderson's dating back to Smith coaching Tulsa before coaching Georgia, Kentucky, Minnesota and Texas Tech, participated in Anderson's tournament and commented, as did Anderson, about Arkansas and Memphis possibly as early as 2018-2019 resuming their formerly annual rivalry ceasing when John Calipari coached Memphis before moving on to Kentucky.

"I think Tubby gets it," Anderson said of Smith's interest in resuming the rivalry. "Tubby's been around a long time, and we're good friends. He's a mentor to me. I just think it's a great, great game for this area. This part of the country. He's seen the Memphis series over the years, and I just think for TV purposes and for what has taken place in the past the players. So I think it's an exciting series, and I'm looking forward to getting those dates and getting it set in stone where we can continue, and hopefully it can be a series that continues for a long time."

Smith concurred.

"Yeah, we've talked about it with Mike and his staff," Smith said. "I'm sure we can work out dates and stuff. We'll get there. I'm looking forward to it. I don't know if I'm looking forward to it, but it's a regional game. I know in the past we've played, competed against the Razorbacks. I know how talented they are, making it to the NCAA Tournament last year, losing to the eventual champion in North Carolina. That tells you the great job Mike has done here."

Smith recalled the Razorbacks' success recruiting in Memphis when Nolan Richardson coached Arkansas and said he understood how that played into Calipari discontinuing the series and Calipari successor Josh Pastner continuing that policy.

"I can see why they didn't," Smith said. "We have a hotbed of talent there, and certainly, I know when Nolan Richardson was here, he did pretty well in recruiting that region, the Memphis area. Recruiting has changed so much over the last 10 years, five years. Kids are going to be going where they want to go anyways. It's a pretty mobile society now. I'm not concerned with that."

Does Smith expect a home and home series?

"Yeah, that's what we'd like to do," Smith said. "We talked about playing in Little Rock and then playing in Memphis or playing here at Bud Walton and... We'd like it home and home."

Sports on 05/23/2017

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