KeVaughn Allen

[popcornhog]

does anybody really think hes coming here after the mess that was the recruitment of kj hill?

What's the relationship between KJ and Allen?

[TheRazorbackGuy]

What's the relationship between KJ and Allen?

They both play high school hoops for North Little Rock

[HOGINTENNESSEE]

What's the relationship between KJ and Allen?

They are really good friends

[popcornhog]

They both play high school hoops for North Little Rock

I may have completely missed something, but why does that matter? KJ is only playing football, right?

Do they want to go to the same school or something?

[popcornhog]

They are really good friends

Got it. Did they announce plans to attend the same school?

[HOGINTENNESSEE]

Got it. Did they announce plans to attend the same school?

Well KJ tried to talk Allen into Arkansas and after he decommitted Allen tried to talk KJ into FL.

But the bigger issue is probably Allen saw all the crap "hog fans" said to KJ on Twitter after his decommitment

[The_Bionic_Pig]

The attempt to just visit another program (Tennessee) was thwarted by threats by Florida of not guaranteeing the basketball scholarship thus a public decomittment is required before Arkansas will re-persue especially with a certain "handler" holding a personal grudge towards Nolan Richardson & Staff (MA)

[popcornhog]

I personally know KeVaughn and the people around him. He is a good kid and there is no truth to any of this $$ stuff.  Anderson tried to recruit him but failed. Other programs out worked Mike on this one. Florida and UConn both showed more interest as did others. Mike missed out on a good one...period. Accusing Donovan of cheating or KeVaughn of accepting such is nothing short of defamatory. He will be a great player at Florida and that is where he is headed. Not every kid in Arkansas bleeds razorback red but we should all wish them the best. Stop with the unfounded rumors and move on.

I don't know the kid, but this is my assumption as well. Or something like it. We aren't gonna win em all.

[TomBigBeeHog]

I personally know KeVaughn and the people around him. He is a good kid and there is no truth to any of this $$ stuff.  Anderson tried to recruit him but failed. Other programs out worked Mike on this one. Florida and UConn both showed more interest as did others. Mike missed out on a good one...period. Accusing Donovan of cheating or KeVaughn of accepting such is nothing short of defamatory. He will be a great player at Florida and that is where he is headed. Not every kid in Arkansas bleeds razorback red but we should all wish them the best. Stop with the unfounded rumors and move on.

Too bad he didn't want to be a Hog. If things don't pan out in Gator land and/or he doesn't make the NBA, he will be an afterthought here when his playing days are over. Probably end up being the next Quincy Lewis, yeah he was good at Minnesota and played in the NBA but no one ever brings him up in a sports conversation with the guys over a brew. Quincy who? that's the deal when you leave the state and don't become one of the greats. Come to Arkansas and twenty years later Arkansans will still remember you fondly. Not just the stars but role players like Ernie Murray, Ken Biley, and so on .....

[Nipsey Mussle]

I have just not ever been blown away by Allen (and yes, I said this well before he chose UF). Some on here think he's a ptp-er, but I'm not convinced. No reason to argue about it, we'll find out on the court. I'd still gladly take him, even if solely on the assumption that he's rated high for a reason.

[TomBigBeeHog]

I have just not ever been blown away by Allen (and yes, I said this well before he chose UF). Some on here think he's a ptp-er, but I'm not convinced. No reason to argue about it, we'll find out on the court. I'd still gladly take him, even if solely on the assumption that he's rated high for a reason.

Maybe the Hog coaching staff agrees with you, therefore, no sweat on the Hill. Whitt is the guy I would take if we could only get 1 of the 2. Just my opinion based on what I have seen.

[Danny J]

I personally know KeVaughn and the people around him. He is a good kid and there is no truth to any of this $$ stuff.  Anderson tried to recruit him but failed. Other programs out worked Mike on this one. Florida and UConn both showed more interest as did others. Mike missed out on a good one...period. Accusing Donovan of cheating or KeVaughn of accepting such is nothing short of defamatory. He will be a great player at Florida and that is where he is headed. Not every kid in Arkansas bleeds razorback red but we should all wish them the best. Stop with the unfounded rumors and move on.

I hope he rides the pine at Florida if that is where he ends up. Why should we all wish him to go to Florida and do well? You do know we play against Florida? Kind of like Archie. Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

[Danny J]

Maybe the Hog coaching staff agrees with you, therefore, no sweat on the Hill. Whitt is the guy I would take if we could only get 1 of the 2. Just my opinion based on what I have seen.

Would love to get both but if I had to only take one it would be Whitt all day every day. He is a perfect fit and I think he will have a better overall college career.

[TomBigBeeHog]

I hope he rides the pine at Florida if that is where he ends up. Why should we all wish him to go to Florida and do well? You do know we play against Florida? Kind of like Archie. Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

I feel ya. I'm a Razorback fan. Not a KeVaughn fan. He picked his poison. I don't have to like it.

[Ham Sandwich]

I personally know KeVaughn and the people around him. He is a good kid and there is no truth to any of this $$ stuff.  Anderson tried to recruit him but failed. Other programs out worked Mike on this one. Florida and UConn both showed more interest as did others. Mike missed out on a good one...period. Accusing Donovan of cheating or KeVaughn of accepting such is nothing short of defamatory. He will be a great player at Florida and that is where he is headed. Not every kid in Arkansas bleeds razorback red but we should all wish them the best. Stop with the unfounded rumors and move on.

This is BS, don't blame MA for Kevaughn's decision. You realize how much you contradict yourself with this post right?

Also, Whitt is higher rated and wanted to commit here and we took his commitment before KA knew where he wanted to go.

We have several players from LR/NLR that do bleed razorback red and those are the players I want to keep up with.

If he wants to go out on his own, it's his choice. Just don't expect people to care or wish him well in success. I personally don't wish him anything bad, but I personally couldn't give a rats ass about what he does at this point. 

[Hawg Red]

Also, Whitt is higher rated and wanted to commit here and we took his commitment before KA knew where he wanted to go.

Why do some fans say this?

http://247sports.com/Season/2015-Basketball/RecruitRankings?InstitutionGroup=HighSchool

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/basketball/recruiting/playerrankings/_/order/true

https://rivals.yahoo.com/basketballrecruiting/basketball/recruiting/rankings/rank-3252

http://scouthoops.scout.com/topic/players?type=players&start=50&category=Basketball%20Recruiting&classYear=2015&minimumInterest=%22Low%22

There's really not a whole lot separating the two. Allen is rated higher on 247 Sports and ESPN, and Whitt is rated higher on Rivals and Scout. They're both practically ranked the same, though, when you consider that, in their range, there really just isn't much of a difference.

[TomBigBeeHog]

Why do some fans say this?

http://247sports.com/Season/2015-Basketball/RecruitRankings?InstitutionGroup=HighSchool

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/basketball/recruiting/playerrankings/_/order/true

https://rivals.yahoo.com/basketballrecruiting/basketball/recruiting/rankings/rank-3252

http://scouthoops.scout.com/topic/players?type=players&start=50&category=Basketball%20Recruiting&classYear=2015&minimumInterest=%22Low%22

There's really not a whole lot separating the two. Allen is rated higher on 247 Sports and ESPN, and Whitt is rated higher on Rivals and Scout. They're both practically ranked the same, though, when you consider that, in their range, there really just isn't much of a difference.

I don't go by the rankings, its the eye test and how their game translates to the style we play. Whitt looks to be a better player for us than Allen would be in my opinion.

[texas tush hog]

Well KJ tried to talk Allen into Arkansas and after he decommitted Allen tried to talk KJ into FL.

But the bigger issue is probably Allen saw all the crap "hog fans" said to KJ on Twitter after his decommitment

Well deserved apparently.

[Buck Brewer]

ATM...there is zero chance. We do not have a scholarship available for him. Maybe if someone leaves...maybe.

This is it right here, the inn is full and if someone checks out we need a three more, like Melvin Frazier. If two check out then we talking a different ballgame. But there is issues with the handler.

[Hawg Red]

I don't go by the rankings, its the eye test and how their game translates to the style we play. Whitt looks to be a better player for us than Allen would be in my opinion.

Okay. But the person I'm responding to is talking about Whitt being rated higher. The analysts have them rated practically the same. It's also really easy to act like Whitt was the better player all along when he's the one who signed with the Hogs. Outside the Arkansas bubble, you're probably going to find a split opinion among those who have seen them more than any of us posters here.

It's good that we got one of them, but watching the team play, it's obvious we needed both. I'm not really blaming Anderson and the staff for not getting KeVaughn because I honestly don't know what the real story is. I've heard from someone reliable that our staff was just plain out-recruited for Allen. But I also think there's a reason they didn't go after him harder, and I don't think that reason is Jimmy Whitt. I think they absolutely wanted both, but there's some underlying issue at play that stopped the connection between the Hogs and Allen from ever being a truly legitimate possibility. I just get tired of this deal where Hog fans immediately start talking about players or handlers getting paid when we don't get a player. And also when they start propping a recruit we did get up to make one we didn't get look worse or unneeded. The kid went to Florida. It sucks. But we did need him in addition to Whitt. I'd be saying the same thing if we didn't get Whitt. It is what it is, but people that want to act like it's no big deal either aren't being honest with themselves or they just don't know how good KeVaughn is (probably more of the latter - most fans haven't seen recruits play that much).

[cableguy]

Precisely.

I heard over a year ago that Cotton was the reason that Allen wasn't coming to Arkansas and I heard it from a guy that lives in NLR and follows high school basketball very closely.  I saw Allen play last year and this year, his jump shot has improved a great deal. He is a great defensive player and looks like a good character guy, he would fit MA system perfectly.

[Scott7703]

I heard over a year ago that Cotton was the reason that Allen wasn't coming to Arkansas and I heard it from a guy that lives in NLR and follows high school basketball very closely.  I saw Allen play last year and this year, his jump shot has improved a great deal. He is a great defensive player and looks like like a good character guy, he would fit MA system perfectly.

I agree with all of this.

[Danny J]

How many people do you guys believe he has steered away from Arkansas? Does he make his living as an AAU coach and how does that work?

[RyanLR]

Why are all the NLR kids deciding not to play for Arkansas?

[ricepig]

Why are all the NLR kids deciding not to play for Arkansas?

They all aren't, several play for the Hogs.

[regi]

Maybe he went to Florida because they recruited him hard? Their head coach has multiple titles. Good facilities. Recent success. They have a bunch of players in the NBA (Brewer, Beal, Noah, Horford). It's a very good program.

If Florida had to cheat to land Allen, what did Arkansas do to sign Whitt?

He is not a Gator yet and may not be. He wwill not sign with UA either.

[Hoggish1]

Why do some fans say this?

http://247sports.com/Season/2015-Basketball/RecruitRankings?InstitutionGroup=HighSchool

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/basketball/recruiting/playerrankings/_/order/true

https://rivals.yahoo.com/basketballrecruiting/basketball/recruiting/rankings/rank-3252

http://scouthoops.scout.com/topic/players?type=players&start=50&category=Basketball%20Recruiting&classYear=2015&minimumInterest=%22Low%22

There's really not a whole lot separating the two. Allen is rated higher on 247 Sports and ESPN, and Whitt is rated higher on Rivals and Scout. They're both practically ranked the same, though, when you consider that, in their range, there really just isn't much of a difference.

So, what did you prove with this ^?  Whitt is 2 inches taller.  That settles it.

[The real Hogules]

I said months ago, long before this was decided, that I'd prefer Whitt and nothing has changed.
If we had gotten Allen and not Whitt, I'd have been thrilled to land Allen, but still would have preferred Jimmy Whitt.
We came out of this smelling like a rose!

[CallThemHawgs!]

This team needs guys who can handle the ball.  Will really miss Madden in this area.

Durham and Beard are the only decent ball handlers we have. I have no clue about Whitt.

Huh?

Madden and ball handling should NEVER be used in the same sentence. Not often you see a CBB player completely miss the ball when trying to dribble behind his back...

[Hawg Red]

So, what did you prove with this ^?  Whitt is 2 inches taller.  That settles it.

I proved that Jimmy Whitt is not rated higher than KeVaughn Allen, which I thought was obviously what I set out to prove. Is it really that hard to comprehend or you just feel like playing (?) dumb?

[HawgnCorona]

Let us not pick fly "crap" out of pepper...please.

[hoglady]

Why are all the NLR kids deciding not to play for Arkansas?

It's not a NLR thing.
For those old enough to remember - Nolan hardly ever got a player out of Central Arkansas. And there were a ton of them during those years. There was a riff between Nolan and the high school coaches. I don't know whether that carried over to MA or not. But there were fences to mend in Central Arkansas for sure.

[Mike Irwin]

Anderson had two scholarships to work with. He needed a point guard who could shoot and a tall, athletic forward. Early on in the recruiting process it was obvious that Whitt was much higher on Arkansas than Allen. It was no brainer to put more effort into recruiting Whitt which he did.

He ended up with a point guard who can shoot and a tall, athletic forward plus a three-point shooter who is redshirting.

That's pretty much it unless some of you want to argue just to be arguing.

[TheRazorbackGuy]

Anderson had two scholarships to work with. He needed a point guard who could shoot and a tall, athletic forward. Early on in the recruiting process it was obvious that Whitt was much higher on Arkansas than Allen. It was no brainer to put more effort into recruiting Whitt which he did.

He ended up with a point guard who can shoot and a tall, athletic forward plus a three-point shooter who is redshirting.

That's pretty much it unless some of you want to argue just to be arguing.

I disagree MikeIrwin... Dusty Hannahs was the guy they wanted instead of KeVaughn

[Mike Irwin]

I disagree MikeIrwin... Dusty Hannahs was the guy they wanted instead of KeVaughn

Not exactly true. If Allen had given Anderson a reason to believe he was really interested Anderson would have recruited him harder. He would would have taken Allen over Hannahs but they didn't think Allen would sign in the end. Again, not a tough decision with regard to Hannahs either.

[rzrbackramsfan]

Honestly I'm not that hurt about Allen.  From what I gather his strength is driving?  I really think we need GREAT shooters, like two Kevin Pangos or enough guys where at least one or two guys can be hot a night. 

[cableguy]

It's not a NLR thing.
For those old enough to remember - Nolan hardly ever got a player out of Central Arkansas. And there were a ton of them during those years. There was a riff between Nolan and the high school coaches. I don't know whether that carried over to MA or not. But there were fences to mend in Central Arkansas for sure.

I believe what u said has some truth to it. I played ball in LR and I know at least one player that hates the Hawgs because they didn't recruit him. Nolan didn't sign one player from those nationally rank Parkview teams. Now those players are involved in coaching.

[rzrbackramsfan]

Lol everyone talks about how Larry Johnson said you need to go get you some men.  I think this year Marcus page told Anderson, you need to go get some guys that can shoot! Because all we really had this year as far as great outside shooters was streaky madden, streaky bell, and consistent Qualls but he kind of had to be pretty open.

[RussVegas Hawg]

I believe what u said has some truth to it. I played ball in LR and I know at least one player that hates the Hawgs because they didn't recruit him. Nolan didn't sign one player from those nationally rank Parkview teams. Now those players are involved in coaching.

Nolan did just fine without them. Sounds like sour grapes to me. I wouldn't go near the NLR Athletic Dept. at this time

[Danny J]

Lol everyone talks about how Larry Johnson said you need to go get you some men.  I think this year Marcus page told Anderson, you need to go get some guys that can shoot! Because all we really had this year as far as great outside shooters was streaky madden, streaky bell, and consistent Qualls but he kind of had to be pretty open.

And we had nobody who could create their own shot. When you think about the deficiencies of this years team it just shows how great a job they and the staff did to get to 27-9, 15-6 in the SEC and make the round of 32.

[hoglady]

Nolan did just fine without them. Sounds like sour grapes to me. I wouldn't go near the NLR Athletic Dept. at this time

It's not sour grapes - it's just the way it was back then.

[TheRazorbackGuy]

Not exactly true. If Allen had given Anderson a reason to believe he was really interested Anderson would have recruited him harder. He would would have taken Allen over Hannahs but they didn't think Allen would sign in the end. Again, not a tough decision with regard to Hannahs either.

MikeIrwin, So the dufus Pelphrey can recruit him to Florida and CMA cant recruit him to Arkansas. I don't buy it!

[Nipsey Mussle]

MikeIrwin, So the dufus Pelphrey can recruit him to Florida and CMA cant recruit him to Arkansas. I don't buy it!

Oh, I forgot Pel was the HC at UF.

[TheRazorbackGuy]

Oh, I forgot Pel was the HC at UF.

No but He is an assistant that knows players in Arkansas

[Mike Irwin]

MikeIrwin, So the dufus Pelphrey can recruit him to Florida and CMA cant recruit him to Arkansas. I don't buy it!

Don't care what you buy or don't buy. I'm not going to say who I talked to about this but most can guess and it's not a guy who knows a guy. This thread is like a lot of 'em I read here. It's a big fuss over something very simple.

From the start Arkansas coaches had the impression that Allen was going out of state. They didn't stop recruiting him and they certainly would have taken him but they put their efforts into players they felt could really help them and who were more likely to sign.

They are very happy with who they got.

[TomBigBeeHog]

Don't care what you buy or don't buy. I'm not going to say who I talked to about this but most can guess and it's not a guy who knows a guy. This thread is like a lot of 'em I read here. It's a big fuss over something very simple.

From the start Arkansas coaches had the impression that Allen was going out of state. They didn't stop recruiting him and they certainly would have taken him but they put their efforts into players they felt could really help them and who were more likely to sign.

They are very happy with who they got.

Thanks Mike. This makes more sense than anything else that has been said and should be the end of this discussion.

[Jamie Jones]

I hope he rides the pine at Florida if that is where he ends up. Why should we all wish him to go to Florida and do well? You do know we play against Florida? Kind of like Archie. Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

See Danny, we agree a lot. I don't wish any good will toward any other SEC school, at anything they do. And I certainly don't want any high school player, from the state, to have success elsewhere in the SEC. That is just dumb to me. I absolutely hate all SEC members that don't reside in Fayetteville, AR. And if one of the home state guys goes to one of the members, they are members of that state and team for me. WPS

[Hawg Red]

Thanks Mike. This makes more sense than anything else that has been said and should be the end of this discussion.

As much has been thrown out there in this thread, just not so definitively in regards to the staff getting the vibe that Allen didn't want to be a Hog.

But I do agree that it should probably end the discussion.

[cableguy]

How many people do you guys believe he has steered away from Arkansas? Does he make his living as an AAU coach and how does that work?

I happen to know Cotton a little and I played against him in basketball. He was one of those players that transferred in high school and I doubt it was because of academics. He has a regular office job. He's not a football guy at all, so I seriously doubt he steered any football player away from Arkansas. Cotton is trying to make a name for himself in Arkansas high school basketball and I would say basketball is a business for him but he also cares about the kids developing their game. Cotton is not a bad person by any means and I don't think it would take a whole lot to make him an Arkansas ally.

[cypress rock]

He should want to be an Arkansas ally!