Trey Thompson

[arkansasrazorback]

Dudley E. Dawson ‏@Dedsports  25m
Trey Thompson finishes with 27 points and 15 rebounds unofficially - Forrest City beats Alma  68-65 in OT

Pretty nice game it sounds like.  He could come in and learn from Portis and Kingsley for a year or two and hopefully be a force down low.

[OnTheHillHogFan]

FYI he missed their last game and the last few days of practice with a hamstring injury

[Danny J]

Dudley E. Dawson ‏@Dedsports  25m
Trey Thompson finishes with 27 points and 15 rebounds unofficially - Forrest City beats Alma  68-65 in OT

Pretty nice game it sounds like.  He could come in and learn from Portis and Kingsley for a year or two and hopefully be a force down low.

Yeah...he is going to need a couple years and practicing against those guys will only help. He is currently playing against very very weak competition. That probably is understated by quite a bit. He has the tools though but the game speed difference between playing against teams like Alma and Van Buren versus teams we will play early like SMU and Clemson and likely Kansas will be galaxies apart.

[olddawg]

I did not realize he had been injured, that may explain it , but he was not very impressive tonight,  of course he had a field day down low with 6 ft Alma kids , but many times he walked up the court from defense to offense, if he even went at all.

[Hogtropolis™]

I agree olddawg. I was there watching tonight as well as thought he looked lazy. Hopefully we can chalk that up to his injury that I was unaware of. I still think he will have to get it quite a bit better shape when he gets on campus. After tonight, I will be very surprised if he plays much at all next year. He looks like one that might contribute his Jr. and Sr. years.

[HogPhilosophy]

Serious question..have any of you guys seen him dunk? In every single one of his highlight tapes I have seen, not once does he dunk. At 6'10 I sure hope he can

[Arthur pigby sellers.]

27pts is still a lot to score and still not look impressive. I guess he just had some easy post ups since the other team was so short.  It's a little concerning that I've never really heard any glowing reviews on him from here.

[Danny J]

27pts is still a lot to score and still not look impressive. I guess he just had some easy post ups since the other team was so short.  It's a little concerning that I've never really heard any glowing reviews on him from here.

Hopefully it is a scenario like hearing your kids 5th grade teacher say "I just don't think we are challenging him enough as this comes so easy to him he is bored". Fingers crossed.

I do know that walking up and down the court won't work in CMA style of play and he would likely be sitting a lot if that were to happen.

[razorbackfanatic]

Trey said in a radio interview that the UA coaching staff told him they were going to lean him up when he gets there. I think he's 6'9" 245-260 right now. I'm praying he can give us 8-10 minutes next year and allow Portis and Kingsley's playing time to overlap and let them play together for a few minutes a game. I'd love to see our starting 5 look like this:

PG Beard 5'11" 185
SG Madden 6'5" 185
SF Qualls 6'5" 205
PF Portis 6'10" 245
C Kingsley 6'9" 240

Bell
Babb
Harris
Williams
Miles
Thompson
Watkins
Wagner

[novack2]

Serious question..have any of you guys seen him dunk? In every single one of his highlight tapes I have seen, not once does he dunk. At 6'10 I sure hope he can

I saw him finish a two-hand reverse dunk when playing at Maumelle during that holiday 1-day event.

Prior to that, I had actually seen him in some individual workouts, and had not witnessed him dunking in those.

[Nipsey Mussle]

I did not realize he had been injured, that may explain it , but he was not very impressive tonight,  of course he had a field day down low with 6 ft Alma kids , but many times he walked up the court from defense to offense, if he even went at all.

Here are my thoughts after watching him tonight:

Cons: Lazy, some of which may be attributed to his hamstring, but didn't look active at all.
Most of the time on offense he stood around the foul line and screened a defender if he was nearby.
Not sure why he didn't post up more often. The kid guarding him seemed to be about 6'0 and 165.

Pros: Legit size, he's listed at 6'10 240 on 247 and I wouldn't be surprised if he were more like 260, but not fat at all. Very well built..
Scored every time he wanted to in the post. It helped having a guy half his size guarding him, but nevertheless when he posted up he scored easily.
Willing passer out of the post. He surveyed what was around him before scoring in the post which is a great sign. Forrest City is poorly coached and their guys neither spotted up waiting to shoot a 3 nor cut to the basket.

All in all, it's hard to say after 1 game, and especially just after coming back from a hamstring injury. He may not have been motivated since it was a 1-4 matchup but an average Alma team almost beat them.

His ceiling is sky high, we just may have to wait a couple years to get close to it.

Btw, it was really cool seeing Anderson in person tonight. We did a Hog call for him and I was sitting close to him.

[Hog are ya]

thanks guys for the info.  I love to hear how our new recruits are doing. 

Side note....  Has Forrest City Joe given his summation of Thompson?  You would figure he would be checking him out......?

[forrest city joe]

Dudley E. Dawson ‏@Dedsports  25m
Trey Thompson finishes with 27 points and 15 rebounds unofficially - Forrest City beats Alma  68-65 in OT

Pretty nice game it sounds like.  He could come in and learn from Portis and Kingsley for a year or two and hopefully be a force down low.

Not shocked at all about this. Trey is going to be a better player than a lot of people think. the young man can ball.

[The_Iceman]

I really wish they could redshirt Thompson next year then give him 4 full years to play after that. If we land Atwood,  I think there will be just too much depth for him to see much playing time.

However, I think he will be really good for us in time. I think he ceiling for us is something like 7-8 ppg and 6-7 rebs.

[The_Iceman]

If things go as planned, Thompson's playing time should go something like this:

PG: Beard OR Dickerson
SG: Madden / Bell / Babb
SF: Qualls / Miles OR Williams
PF: Harris OR Atwood
C: Portis / Kingsley / Thompson (rs?)

2015
PG: Beard OR Dickerson
SG: Bell / Babb / 2015 Signee
SF: Qualls / Miles / 2015 signee
PF: Portis / Atwood  / Williams
C:  Kingsley / Thompson
(Just guessing)

[razorsharp94]

Saw him tonight for the second time. He reminds me of a less skilled Oliver Miller. He's got some upside but really needs his body to be reshaped. He does have the frame to add muscle and you can see he's never been in any kind of real weight program. That's a plus. I think 80% of the big guys that go to college are some sort of project when they get to college so he's not as far behind as some believe.

[Beaverfever]

I really wish they could redshirt Thompson next year then give him 4 full years to play after that. If we land Atwood,  I think there will be just too much depth for him to see much playing time.

However, I think he will be really good for us in time. I think he ceiling for us is something like 7-8 ppg and 6-7 rebs.

Redshirting in basketball is a bad idea IMO.  If a player isn't good enough to see the floor as a true freshman then I don't want to invest 5 scholarship years on him.  And once he has used his redshirt year, "working the numbers work out" can be alot more difficult.  You are much more invested. 

[RazorPiggie]

Not shocked at all about this. Trey is going to be a better player than a lot of people think. the young man can ball.

I'm not shocked considering Alma is so short. Anyone over 6'6" should have that kinda game against them.

[ricepig]

I saw him finish a two-hand reverse dunk when playing at Maumelle during that holiday 1-day event.

Prior to that, I had actually seen him in some individual workouts, and had not witnessed him dunking in those.

I saw the rim stuff him in the Rumble, I was sitting with a coach, and he said, "did we just see that?" He will get in shape running up Cleveland Ave, and I think turn out better than most, including me have said. He has some skills, just needs the right motivation.

[The_Iceman]

Redshirting in basketball is a bad idea IMO.  If a player isn't good enough to see the floor as a true freshman then I don't want to invest 5 scholarship years on him.  And once he has used his redshirt year, "working the numbers work out" can be alot more difficult.  You are much more invested. 

While it is more rare in basketball than in football, I think with this roster and with Trey Thompson, redshirting would be a good fit. Right now, Moses Kingsley is averaging 11 minutes a game. Next year, that is only going to go up. Where are Thompson's minutes going to come from?

Redshirting Thompson basically makes him a member of the 2015 class, where we aren't really in on any good big men. If he shows up in 2015 after a redshirt year 6'10" and around 240lb of good muscle, and having that time to work on his game practicing with Portis and Kingsley, you will be getting a much better prospect in 2015, plus you will have him until 2018.

It reminds me of when we redshirted Sanchez. He was coming in behind a lot of good big men, but his playing time would go up immediately the year after. Thankfully, Thompson will be mostly a backup Center for his career behind Kingsley, and not asked to be a starting Center playing 30 minutes a game like Sanchez.

[The Hogfather]

While it is more rare in basketball than in football, I think with this roster and with Trey Thompson, redshirting would be a good fit. Right now, Moses Kingsley is averaging 11 minutes a game. Next year, that is only going to go up. Where are Thompson's minutes going to come from?

Redshirting Thompson basically makes him a member of the 2015 class, where we aren't really in on any good big men. If he shows up in 2015 after a redshirt year 6'10" and around 240lb of good muscle, and having that time to work on his game practicing with Portis and Kingsley, you will be getting a much better prospect in 2015, plus you will have him until 2018.

It reminds me of when we redshirted Sanchez. He was coming in behind a lot of good big men, but his playing time would go up immediately the year after. Thankfully, Thompson will be mostly a backup Center for his career behind Kingsley, and not asked to be a starting Center playing 30 minutes a game like Sanchez.

Completely agree. 

[The_Iceman]

http://swtimes.com/sports/5a-state-forest-city-edges-alma-clarksville-bounces-beebe

"Forrest City (21-4) was the top seed out of the 5A-East and breezed through 14 conference games with an average margin of victory of 24 points per game. Behind 6-foot-8 320-pound Razorback signee Trey Thompson, Forest City had 11 conference wins of more than 10 points."

6'8" 320 pounds? LOL!

[Big Nasty 34]

If FC reaches the semis against  Clarksville, he will get a chance to play against a very tall and long defender. Clarksvilles center is very athletic and is a difference maker in the paint from a defensive side. Will be fun to watch!

[Hawg Red]

Discouraging to read that nothing seems to have changed with Trey since the last time I saw him. He's very underwhelming in person at the HS level. Almost frustrating given that he just simply seems to not really care out there.

Hopefully the coaches at Arkansas can coach him up and get his body and mind right. I have heard that the coach at Forrest City is about half worthless, so maybe Mike can get him where he needs to be.

[The_Iceman]

Discouraging to read that nothing seems to have changed with Trey since the last time I saw him. He's very underwhelming in person at the HS level. Almost frustrating given that he just simply seems to not really care out there.

Hopefully the coaches at Arkansas can coach him up and get his body and mind right. I have heard that the coach at Forrest City is about half worthless, so maybe Mike can get him where he needs to be.

Good coaching means a lot. Hopefully Mike can bring the best out of Trey. I like the fact he will also be mentored by Portis and Kingsley.

[azhog10]

Hopefully it is a scenario like hearing your kids 5th grade teacher say "I just don't think we are challenging him enough as this comes so easy to him he is bored". Fingers crossed.

I do know that walking up and down the court won't work in CMA style of play and he would likely be sitting a lot if that were to happen.

From what I heard CMA was there. So I am sure he is aware of all of this.

[azhog10]

Discouraging to read that nothing seems to have changed with Trey since the last time I saw him. He's very underwhelming in person at the HS level. Almost frustrating given that he just simply seems to not really care out there.

Hopefully the coaches at Arkansas can coach him up and get his body and mind right. I have heard that the coach at Forrest City is about half worthless, so maybe Mike can get him where he needs to be.

Is it possible that even though Trey signed, that we send him to JUCO or prep school? If he leaves will we have lost hte scholly like in football? There isn't an oversigning clause in basketball is there? I'm not saying this is an option, but I wonder if they are watching him close and if we get a guy like Atwood and Dickerson, if maybe we send him to a juco for a year.

[three hog night]

Trey said in a radio interview that the UA coaching staff told him they were going to lean him up when he gets there. I think he's 6'9" 245-260 right now. I'm praying he can give us 8-10 minutes next year and allow Portis and Kingsley's playing time to overlap and let them play together for a few minutes a game. I'd love to see our starting 5 look like this:

PG Beard 5'11" 185
SG Madden 6'5" 185
SF Qualls 6'5" 205
PF Portis 6'10" 245
C Kingsley 6'9" 240

Bell
Babb
Harris
Williams
Miles
Thompson
Watkins
Wagner

I feel that he will get some "coaching" from Portis, Kingsley, and Harris this summer and fall.  I will be happy if we can get 5-8 minutes from him.

[The_Iceman]

Is it possible that even though Trey signed, that we send him to JUCO or prep school? If he leaves will we have lost hte scholly like in football? There isn't an oversigning clause in basketball is there? I'm not saying this is an option, but I wonder if they are watching him close and if we get a guy like Atwood and Dickerson, if maybe we send him to a juco for a year.

Doubt that will happen. If Trey's grades are good, you don't want to send him to prep or juco. If you redshirt him, he will still have the chance to be here on scholarship, being coached and developed by our staff, learning from guys like Portis and Kinglsey, and will be working on his education.

[Nipsey Mussle]

Discouraging to read that nothing seems to have changed with Trey since the last time I saw him. He's very underwhelming in person at the HS level. Almost frustrating given that he just simply seems to not really care out there.

Hopefully the coaches at Arkansas can coach him up and get his body and mind right. I have heard that the coach at Forrest City is about half worthless, so maybe Mike can get him where he needs to be.

He's either a terrible coach or the talented players on the team are just that uncoachable.

[Nipsey Mussle]

While it is more rare in basketball than in football, I think with this roster and with Trey Thompson, redshirting would be a good fit. Right now, Moses Kingsley is averaging 11 minutes a game. Next year, that is only going to go up. Where are Thompson's minutes going to come from?

Redshirting Thompson basically makes him a member of the 2015 class, where we aren't really in on any good big men. If he shows up in 2015 after a redshirt year 6'10" and around 240lb of good muscle, and having that time to work on his game practicing with Portis and Kingsley, you will be getting a much better prospect in 2015, plus you will have him until 2018.

It reminds me of when we redshirted Sanchez. He was coming in behind a lot of good big men, but his playing time would go up immediately the year after. Thankfully, Thompson will be mostly a backup Center for his career behind Kingsley, and not asked to be a starting Center playing 30 minutes a game like Sanchez.

Good post

I told my buddy last night that MA doesn't ever seem to redshirt but Thompson would be the perfect choice for one. I think his great upside will make him dominant here eventually. He won't do much next season, imo. I wonder if UF would've redshirted him had he chosen them?

In response to Azhog, MA was in fact there last night to see Trey.

[Tripod1]

Discouraging to read that nothing seems to have changed with Trey since the last time I saw him. He's very underwhelming in person at the HS level. Almost frustrating given that he just simply seems to not really care out there.

Hopefully the coaches at Arkansas can coach him up and get his body and mind right. I have heard that the coach at Forrest City is about half worthless, so maybe Mike can get him where he needs to be.

If Lofton (?) is still coaching there I wouldn't call him half worthless.  I've always thought his kids played hard and he seemed to coach hard.  Problem could be Forrest City itself!  Sorry to say that as I was born there but the school system  is not a shining star.  Isn't the cheer or dance team coach suspended right now with charges of supplying drugs and I mean the serious stuff not weed to her girls?  City is drying up, school losing about a class a year which is a reason they are now 5A after once being 7A.  Just many issues they are dealing with.   

[RazorPiggie]

Discouraging to read that nothing seems to have changed with Trey since the last time I saw him. He's very underwhelming in person at the HS level. Almost frustrating given that he just simply seems to not really care out there.

Hopefully the coaches at Arkansas can coach him up and get his body and mind right. I have heard that the coach at Forrest City is about half worthless, so maybe Mike can get him where he needs to be.

Basically what a guy from work said today. Said he went and watched the 1st half and he was willing to bet that Trey didn't cross half court but only about 6 times in the 1st qtr. He said he couldn't believe that we signed him.

Redshirting him would be good. Being 320lbs I don't see him playing too much in our system or being able to.

[PorkRinds]

Basically what a guy from work said today. Said he went and watched the 1st half and he was willing to bet that Trey didn't cross half court but only about 6 times in the 1st qtr. He said he couldn't believe that we signed him.

Redshirting him would be good. Being 320lbs I don't see him playing too much in our system or being able to.

Surely he isn't really 320 lbs!

[Swinesong1]

Just to put things in perspective, there were several people on this board dogging Portis after seeing him play.  Others said he would be no better than Mick.  I've seen Thompson play a couple of times.  He's no where near as bad as some say.  He definitely needs to get in better shape but he will be an asset on the hill.

[The_Iceman]

Basically what a guy from work said today. Said he went and watched the 1st half and he was willing to bet that Trey didn't cross half court but only about 6 times in the 1st qtr. He said he couldn't believe that we signed him.

That could be due to the fact he was playing with a bum hamstring.

[Adam Stokes]

A reason I may be hesitant to redshirt is him is our lack of depth when it comes to bigs.  This year we have been VERY fortunate in that we really haven't had any injuries.  What would happen next year if a few games into conference play Portis or Kingsley tore an ACL?  Teams could get our big guys in foul trouble and we wouldn't have anyone to replace them with.  This isn't the Stan Heath era where we had 6 guys over 6'10".  Had something happened this year to Kingsley or Portis, Harris would've been playing the 5 when someone needed a breather.  I still don't like a 6'6" guy guarding centers regardless of how built he is.

This might be one of the reasons we are looking at some JUCO PF's.  I would prefer one that could play D against a 5.  If we did get a guy like that, I'd have no problem redshirting Thompson, it would help him a ton.  I'm just not sure about our depth.

[The_Iceman]

A reason I may be hesitant to redshirt is him is our lack of depth when it comes to bigs.  This year we have been VERY fortunate in that we really haven't had any injuries.  What would happen next year if a few games into conference play Portis or Kingsley tore an ACL?  Teams could get our big guys in foul trouble and we wouldn't have anyone to replace them with.  This isn't the Stan Heath era where we had 6 guys over 6'10".  Had something happened this year to Kingsley or Portis, Harris would've been playing the 5 when someone needed a breather.  I still don't like a 6'6" guy guarding centers regardless of how built he is.

This might be one of the reasons we are looking at some JUCO PF's.  I would prefer one that could play D against a 5.  If we did get a guy like that, I'd have no problem redshirting Thompson, it would help him a ton.  I'm just not sure about our depth.

I think if Portis or Kingsley went down, you could go with (assuming we get Atwood):

SF: Qualls / Babb / Williams
PF: Harris / Miles / Williams
C: Portis OR Kingsley / Atwood

If we don't land Atwood and we just go with what we have, then yes I think we shouldn't redshirt Trey. But if we have Portis, Kingsley, Atwood, Harris, Williams, and Miles...I just don't see the minutes for Thompson at Center because all minutes at the 5 will be split between Kingsley and Portis.

[ricepig]

I don't think he red shirts, as stated, MA isn't going to bring in anyone to red shirt. He will get minutes in blowouts, and possibly 5-7 minutes relieving Kingsley and Portis, be it rest or foul trouble. He'll give us some needed beef insides for those minutes, and hopefully grow his game.

[Swinesong1]

I don't think he red shirts, as stated, MA isn't going to bring in anyone to red shirt. He will get minutes in blowouts, and possibly 5-7 minutes relieving Kingsley and Portis, be it rest or foul trouble. He'll give us some needed beef insides for those minutes, and hopefully grow his game.

Personally I think next year we'll see a lot more of Portis and Kingsley on the floor together for extended minutes.  This will make Thompson very necessary if for no other reason than to sub in for each and allow them to rest.

[RazorPiggie]

Just to put things in perspective, there were several people on this board dogging Portis after seeing him play.  Others said he would be no better than Mick.  I've seen Thompson play a couple of times.  He's no where near as bad as some say.  He definitely needs to get in better shape but he will be an asset on the hill.

I don't remember too many dogging Portis. Hard to dog a guy that was an McDonalds AA and a 5* throughout the entire process. Thompson is no where near the skill level of Portis.

[Swinesong1]

I don't remember too many dogging Portis. Hard to dog a guy that was an McDonalds AA and a 5* throughout the entire process. Thompson is no where near the skill level of Portis.

No offense, but you obviously weren't paying attention.  I am confident in saying there were several posters putting him down and dogging him after seeing him play.

[yraciv]

Surely he isn't really 320 lbs!

The 320 quote from swtimes was a mistake, he is 255 max.  I think he is around 245 and carries the weight pretty well.  The problem with Trey has always been effort and lack of competition. In AAU you see spurts of him turning that light switch on, but it can get frustrating when you are constantly getting double in the post by guys 5-6 inches shorter than you.  He needs better conditioning and he needs to be banged around by D1 posts to see what he really has. I think a redshirt is certainly an option, but he is certainly skilled enough to give 5-10 minutes a game if need be. I think he is more skilled in the low post than Kingsley was his SR year.

[Hawg Red]

Just to put things in perspective, there were several people on this board dogging Portis after seeing him play.  Others said he would be no better than Mick.  I've seen Thompson play a couple of times.  He's no where near as bad as some say.  He definitely needs to get in better shape but he will be an asset on the hill.

Just to put this is the proper perspective, I don't think I've seen ONE glowing report by someone who's seen Thompson play. It's more like every first hand account has been similar. There a couple of posters that try to dog Portis, but I don't think the two situations are comparable. There was a couple bad reports about Portis and all lukewarm to negative reports on Trey.

[azhog10]

IF, and this is a big IF. But if Trey can get in shape and maybe drop his body fat %, he will get some minutes next year. I have been able to see him workout before and the kid has much more skill than people are giving him credit for. He has really good touch around the rim, and will be a very very good back to the basket post player. The big question will be how much he will be able to run with this team. Mike is as good as anyone at getting his guys in shape and to play to his pace.

[azhog10]

Just to put this is the proper perspective, I don't think I've seen ONE glowing report by someone who's seen Thompson play. It's more like every first hand account has been similar. There a couple of posters that try to dog Portis, but I don't think the two situations are comparable. There was a couple bad reports about Portis and all lukewarm to negative reports on Trey.

I feel like this is a little more positive than "lukewarm"

http://collegebasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/05/27/trey-thompson-commits-to-arkansas/

http://collegebasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/07/18/trey-thompson-picks-up-a-fourth-offer/

[Hawg Red]

I feel like this is a little more positive than "lukewarm"

http://collegebasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/05/27/trey-thompson-commits-to-arkansas/

http://collegebasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/07/18/trey-thompson-picks-up-a-fourth-offer/

Talking Hogville posts.

[Hawg Red]

IF, and this is a big IF. But if Trey can get in shape and maybe drop his body fat %, he will get some minutes next year. I have been able to see him workout before and the kid has much more skill than people are giving him credit for. He has really good touch around the rim, and will be a very very good back to the basket post player. The big question will be how much he will be able to run with this team. Mike is as good as anyone at getting his guys in shape and to play to his pace.

I'm not sure I've seen his skill questioned very much. It's everything else.

[COCHISE]

Surely he isn't really 320 lbs!

If he is, MA better worry about Pittman coming after him.

[azhog10]

Talking Hogville posts.

Meaning what? You hear what you want to hear, that's obvious.