#5 - Arlington

I undershot Arlington a little last year in my initial pick with them in the conference. They should be at least in the middle of the pack again, and possibly toward the top.

WHAT I LIKE:
They return two double-figure scorers in Lonnie McClanahan and Jamel Outler, so their guard situation should be in good hands. They were a good shooting team from the arc and held their own on the boards. Their recruiting/redshirt class looks like it could give immediate help, especially 3-star point guard Erick Neal. They will have decent size up front.

WHAT I DON’T LIKE:
They lost their big scorer and their big rebounder, so they will have to fill those shoes quickly. Reger Dowell averaged 20 ppg and Brandon Edwards pulled down 9.8 rpg. Replacing those kinds of numbers is always problematical. Last year their 3-point defense was not very good.

I think this is a program that can take its place in the top half of the conference most years, if for no other reason than that basketball matters there. They also have a good recruiting location in the DFW metroplex

Appreciate the acknowledgement of last year. I think the biggest factor to UTA's increase in performance is the coach, Scott Cross. He is great at recruiting athletes, then figuring out a way to win. He has a successful run-n-gun team one year, then a great defensive team the next who averages 65 a game. With a beautiful new arena to recruit, the sky is the limit.

No reason that Arlington and Little Rock cannot evolve into a nice rivalry, since we have very similar situations.

(08-05-2014 09:41 PM)MICHAELSPAPPY Wrote:  No reason that Arlington and Little Rock cannot evolve into a nice rivalry, since we have very similar situations.

I agree