We're always thinking of questions here at WholeHogSports.com, and with two-a-days a little more than a month away, we've got plenty to ask the Razorbacks.

But before we do that, how about we ask you a question. We started a new feature on our Twitter account, @wholehogsports, dubbed "Question of the Day." It's as simple as it sounds. We ask a question related to the Razorbacks, and you tag us (@wholehogsports) and let us know your answer.

Or, if Twitter is not your thing, comment below here in the Slophouse.

Today's question is simple: How many points will the Hogs score in their season-opener against Missouri State?

Here's a little background information to consider before posting your answer below or on Twitter:

-- Ryan Mallett is the starting quarterback and Tyler Wilson may play as well in the second quarter if coach Bobby Petrino's comments after spring ball hold through fall camp.

-- The Razorbacks offense put up some yards but not a lot of points last season. Their highest output on the scoreboard was in their 31-30 win over LSU in the season finale.

-- Arkansas' receivers are primed for a breakout year, including sophomore Joe Adams, who proved several times why he was considered one of the top recruits out of high school.

-- Tight end D.J. Williams. Do I really have to explain his team-leading 723 yards and 3 touchdowns last season?

There you go. It's all lined out. How many points do the Hogs hang on the Bears in the season opener on Sept. 5 in Little Rock's War Memorial Stadium?

Just for fun and to start the conversation, I say 38 points.

– Brandon Marcello
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Filed under: Arkansas Football by Brandon Marcello. Posted on: July 1, 2009 at 11:47 am
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Bobby Petrino isn't ready or convinced he'll join Twitter, the popular social networking Web site,  any time soon. In fact, he'd much rather concentrate on work and coaching than e-mails and re-tweets.

Coach says he'd rather be "grinding away" at work than sharing information on Twitter, according to the Knoxville News-Sentinel.

Here's more, with an answer directed at the use of Twitter as a recruiting tool:

While Twitter is all the rage on the Internet, coach Bobby Petrino would rather use his time preparing Arkansas to take the football field.

"I haven't done the twitter yet," Petrino said. "We've been busy in recruiting and working all that. My kids tell me that it's just a phase and it's going to go by quickly and the high school kids don't do it.

"I've always kind of been a guy that stayed away from email too, wondering how much work everyday in America is lost by people being on the computer -- emailing and texting instead of grinding away."

Petrino spoke with Dave Hooker recently on the radio show, The Sports Page, in Knoxville, Tenn. Hooker shared the most notable comments, including the subject of Twitter, in the Knoxville News-Sentinel this week.

Petrino's remarks concerning Twitter are the first since my column in May asking the coach to join the social networking service and athletic director Jeff Long's message to the masses in a video interview Friday. Long, the second-year UA AD, says he and coaches may be joining the World of Twitter soon.

As for Petrino's answer, it's not shocking and I completely understand where he's coming from on this issue. For some, Twitter just isn't their thing. Simply put, texting and sharing the latest news in 140 characters or less is entirely outside of Petrino's working environment.

Some say Twitter is a fad. I happen to believe it'll be here (in some form) for the foreseeable future. Why? Twitter is what you make of it. It's completely compatible to any lifestyle or field.

For journalists, it's a great resource for keeping in contact with colleagues and reading the latest news from the best writers in the country. For the general public, it's a nice way to keep up with friends.

For coaches, there's the idea of improving public perception, connecting with fans and recruits, and being "hip."

But, for the majority of coaches, they stroll to the side of Petrino. They'd rather be "grinding away" at work than texting away precious minutes of time. And I understand that point of view.

Which reminds me, is there a social media Web site dubbed "Grinder?" If not, someone needs to start that up -- and quick. Although, I guess, strength and conditioning coach Jason Veltkamp has his own version of Grinder already up and running on the UA campus. Carrying your teammate up a flight of stairs at Veltkamp's Full Metal Fridays is social networking to the extreme.

So, I guess that's that. While there is a noticeable bump in Petrino's followers on his account parked by UA officials (@bobbypetrino), the coach has made his decision.

He's a Grinder, not a Twitter-er.

Or Twit. Or Tweeter. Or...

You get the point.

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Filed under: Arkansas Football by Brandon Marcello. Posted on: June 30, 2009 at 10:56 pm
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We've got a couple of basketball-related stories on WholeHogSports.com today. Tom Murphy of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette has a great article on Arkansas' low Academic Progress Rate score (888) and how the athletic department plans on dealing with it in their recovery plan.

I have a small story with analysis on the Razorbacks' incoming recruiting class with comments from Dave Telep, the national director of basketball recruiting for Scout.com. I spoke with Telep a month or two ago for this story. What was not included in the online version of the article was further analysis and a capsules on each incoming player. I've attached it below:

The Arkansas 2009 Recruiting Class

FRONTCOURT
Arkansas needed depth in its frontcourt with the recruiting class and coach John Pelphrey scoured the junior college and high school ranks for immediate help for All-SEC forward Michael Washington. Marshawn Powell (6-6, 230), ranked as the 22nd-best power forward in the nation by ESPN.com, may be the best option as a polished forward.

Powell may also have some chemistry with returning guard Stefan Welsh. The two Virginia natives are good friends.

Anthony Borden (6-10, 220) can provide a true center, but he’s very raw with his skills, says Dave Telep, national recruiting director for Scout.com. Borden was also slowed by a back injury last week in the Arkansas High School Coaches Association’s All-Star basketball game in Bud Walton Arena.

Anthony Borden
Pos: Center
Ht./Wt.: 6-10, 220
Hometown: West Memphis
Notable: 13 ppg, 10 rpg, 7 blocks

Glenn Bryant
Pos: Power forward
Ht./Wt.: 6-8, 200
Hometown: Roseville, Mich.
Notable: 11.3 ppg

Marshawn Powell
Pos: Power forward
Ht./Wt.: 6-6, 230
Hometown: Crozet, Va.
Notable: 22 ppg, 12 rpg

BACKCOURT
Length and athleticism was the big knock against Arkansas’ young backcourt in 2008-09. Courtney Fortson (5-11, 180) showed flashes of brilliance at the point and even recorded a triple-double, and Rotnei Clarke (6-0, 184) was always a 3-point threat.

Stefan Welsh had his moments but was inconsistent during pivotal stretches.

The big deal was the Hogs’ perimeter defense. In fact, Arkansas gave up 36.9 percent of opponents’ 3-point attempts, which was last in the SEC. Pelphrey went after athletes and calls Jemal Farmer (6-5, 215) an athletic wing that can fill a void on the perimeter.

Jeff Peterson
Pos: Shooting guard
Ht./Wt.: 6-2, 192
Hometown: Hyattsville, Md. (Iowa transfer)
Notable: Will be eligible for 2010-11 season after sitting out a season due to NCAA transfer rules.

Julysses Nobles
Pos: Point guard
Ht./Wt.: 6-2, 175
Hometown: Jackson, Miss.
Notable: 20.9 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 6.3 assists

Jemal Farmer
Pos: Small forward
Ht./Wt.: 6-5, 215
Hometown: Chicago
Notable: 17.1 ppg, 4.2 rpg

Delvon Johnson
Pos: Small forward
Ht./Wt.: 6-9, 220
Hometown: Ottumwa, Iowa
Notable: 6.9 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 1.9 blocks

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Filed under: Arkansas Basketball by Brandon Marcello. Posted on: June 28, 2009 at 11:14 am
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Linebacker Khiry Battle has followed up his arrest for a failure to appear last month with an arrest earlier this morning on charges of driving under the influence and violation of a noise ordinance in Fayetteville.

Battle was booked in the Washington County Detention Center at 2:25 a.m. and was released on $830 bond at 5:07 a.m. He's due in Fayetteville District Court on July 27, according to the Washington County Sheriff's Office Web site.

It's going to be interesting to see if coach Bobby Petrino will suspend or, maybe, kick the linebacker off the team before fall camp opens in early August. As mentioned above, this is Battle's second arrest in less than two months.

Battle was arrested on a charge of failure to appear on May 7.

The sophomore-to-be played in 10 games last season and accounted for five tackles.

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Filed under: Arkansas Football by Brandon Marcello. Posted on: June 28, 2009 at 11:00 am
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Northwest Arkansas Times staff photographer Andy Shupe got a shot for us this afternoon of the ongoing work on the new synthetic turf at Razorback Stadium. What sticks out most is the new font and lettering on Frank Broyles Field's end zones. The typical white lettering with red outlines is gone, and so is the font-style that had been in place for years. The new font closely resembles what was slapped on the court at Bud Walton Arena this past basketball season.

See for yourself:

(Photo by Andy Shupe/Northwest Arkansas Times)

(Photo by Andy Shupe/Northwest Arkansas Times)

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Filed under: Arkansas Football by Brandon Marcello. Posted on: June 27, 2009 at 5:16 pm
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Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long says it's time for him and the UA's coaches to join Twitter, according to comments he made on his latest "Web chat" with Chuck Barrett, the voice of the Razorbacks.

Long's message didn't take long to translate into results. It looks like swimming coach Jeff Poppell (@jeffpoppell) was the first to jump into the Twitterverse Friday evening. He had a couple of updates about the three Razorbacks who will be in the World Championships this summer.

Note: We've been alerted that gymnastics co-coach Rene Cook (@gymbackrcook) was the first Arkansas coach on Twitter.

One day, this could be a picture of Coach Bobby Petrino contemplating his next Twitter update.

In his Web chat, Long said he has a Twitter account (is it @jefflongUA?) and he plans to start updating soon. The following are some of his comments from the chat. He doesn't mention my May column (or the fans' campaign) lining out the good and bad of Twitter and why Bobby Petrino should join, which (at least indirectly) has @bobbypetrino now over the 500-follower count. Even if he hasn't read the column, I'm sure Long has heard plenty more about the Twitterverse from within his circle in the UA athletic department.

Long admits in the Web chat that he and people his age tend to ignore social media like Twitter, but it's time to get with the times.

[Fans] are looking for that direct connect between us -- between administrators, coaches, student athletes. They don't want it filtered through the media outlets -- some people.

...

It's where things are headed and we need to be a part of that for our fanbase.

The UA athletic department created its own Twitter account (@ArkRazorbacks) in July 2008. The account is updated daily with the latest news releases and score updates (sometimes more than 45 times a day, so buy a good text-messaging package).

But today is the first time we've seen a UA coach updating his own account. We'll soon see if Petrino or basketball coach John Pelphrey (@johnpelphrey) start tweeting on their parked accounts.

What's most interesting will be whether the accounts are updated by them personally or by an assistant. If it's the latter, I think that would constitute as a "filtered" message, don't you?

Either way, welcome to Twitter, Coach Poppell.

If you don't believe me that Twitter is the way to go for coaches, read a sports media expert's comments in my May column:

Kathleen Hessert, a sports media expert, had a simple piece of advice for coaches who aren't hip with Twitter in a recent article in ESPN The Magazine.

"I'm going to tell them to ignore it at their own peril," she said. "Because they are going to be so far behind the curve that they're not even going to be relevant to today's young fans. In my estimation, they don't have an option anymore."

And my open invite to coach Petrino still stands. If you need some help, I'd be happy to help with your first tweet, coach.

Oh, and don't forget to follow me (@bmarcello) and WholeHogSports (@wholehogsports) on Twitter.

Nice segue, eh?

Maybe we should start our own version of Conan O'Brien's Twitter Tracker for Arkansas sports on the Slophouse. If you haven't seen CoCo's Twitter Tracker skit (watch it here), you need to. It's a tweet with some meat!

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Filed under: Arkansas Baseball, Arkansas Basketball, Arkansas Football, Arkansas Women's Sports, Uncategorized by Brandon Marcello. Posted on: June 26, 2009 at 10:12 pm
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Miami Heat president Pat Riley had nothing but praise early Friday morning for former Arkansas guard Patrick Beverley, who was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers with the 42nd overall pick in the NBA draft and was traded to Miami late Thursday night.

Beverley told the Associated Press that he was a "Miami-type of player." Riley seems to agree.

"We absolutely love the guy," Riley said. "We loved his workouts. Probably the most enthusiastic player."

Miami Heat management had Beverley listed as the 20th-best player in the NBA Draft, according to the Associated Press. So his pick up on a trade from the Lakers for $1.5 million and a second round draft pick in 2011 could be considered a bargain.

Riley said the Heat had no worries about Beverley's troubled past. Beverley admitted to DraftExpress.com in May that a "young lady" wrote a class paper for him while at Arkansas. Beverley was suspended by the university and left last August after his sophomore season.

The Heat also picked up LSU's Marcus Thornton with the 43rd pick, but traded him to New Orleans for second round picks in 2010 and 2012. Miami did grab Memphis small forward Robert Dozier with the last pick of the draft, the 60th selection.

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Filed under: Arkansas Basketball, Uncategorized by Brandon Marcello. Posted on: June 25, 2009 at 11:56 pm
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Marshawn Powell has been cleared by the NCAA and will be on the University of Arkansas campus Sunday, reports the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's Richard Davenport.

That's good news for the Razorbacks, who were in dire need of a frontcourt mate for Michael Washington, who tested the NBA draft waters but decided to return to the UA for his senior season.

Powell was ranked No. 72 overall in the 2009 recruiting class by Rivals.com. He's No. 20 on the power forward list.

You can catch Powell on the Sports Animals with Shawn Arnell and Wally Hall this evening. Powell is scheduled to be on the air to discuss being cleared by the NCAA at 6:05 p.m. You can listen to the show in Northwest Arkansas on KUOA-FM, 105.3 or online at www.hogsnow.com and www.sportsanimal920.com. You can also watch the show live at www.thv2.com.

You can also catch another future Razorback, center Anthony Borden, in person. The 6-foot-10 big man is on the East squad in tonight's High School All-Star game in Bud Walton Arena. Tipoff is scheduled to be sometime at or after 7:30 p.m.

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Filed under: Arkansas Basketball by Brandon Marcello. Posted on: June 25, 2009 at 3:58 pm
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Mike Conley, Sr., is a busy man. The former Razorback and gold-medal Olympian trackster has made a name for himself in the track world, sure. Now, he's doing the same in the NBA circles. He represents Greg Oden in Portland and is hoping another one of his clients gets picked up in tonight's NBA Draft.

Conley, the father of the Memphis Grizzlies' Mike Conley, Jr., is representing Wake Forest guard Jeff Teague, who may go in the first round, according to DraftExpress.com's mock draft.

Mike Conley, Sr. hung out with his son, Mike Conley, Jr., right, prior to the 2007 NBA Draft. Conley Sr., who is representing Wake Forest's Jeff Teague, will again be watching the NBA Draft closely tonight. (Democrat-Gazette Photo/Beth Hall)

I caught up with Conley Sr., yesterday in Springdale. He moved to Northwest Arkansas in the last five to six months, but has been bouncing all around the country and across the pond. He was in Switzerland last week with the group Chicago 2016, which is attempting to garner the bid for the Summer Olympics.

On the eve of today's NBA Draft, Conley -- much like Teague -- was a ball of nerves.

"You're just there to monitor calls and also keep Jeff's nerves down," Conley said. "This is a very anxious and nervous time for a player. You have no idea where you're going. He doesn't have any idea where he's going."

Conley planned to invite Teague to Fayetteville for today's draft so he could alleviate some pressure and isolate himself.

Conley is not too familiar with former Arkansas guard Patrick Beverley, but he's heard about the controversial star's workouts with NBA teams. Most see Beverley as a second round pickup tonight.

"I'm not sure where he'll go," Conley said. "Obviously, I haven't followed him closely, but he did a phenomenal job in his workouts. ... He came in there and he took it to a lot of people and was real aggressive. He did well for himself."

After Conley became a sports agent a couple of years ago, he quit his job as the executive director of USA Track and Field. Then came the chance to relax in his downtime, which isn't often.

"At that point, I could live anywhere. If I can live anywhere, I'd rather live here," Conley said.

I'm sure we'll see Conley at Razorback events plenty in the future.

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Filed under: Arkansas Basketball, Uncategorized by Brandon Marcello. Posted on: June 25, 2009 at 8:15 am
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I had the opportunity to speak with former Razorback quarterback Matt Jones today at a youth football camp in Springdale. We hit on a few subjects, including his hopes of returning to the NFL later this month after a tumultuous year off the field.

Jones, a former first-round draft pick who violated terms of a court-mandated drug program in February, was cut by the Jacksonville Jaguars in March after serving five days in jail.

Matt Jones, shown here celebrating a game-winning touchdown against Tampa Bay in 2007, was in Springdale on Wednesday at a youth football camp. The former Hog is looking for a new NFL team to call home after a drug court violation led to him being released by Jacksonville. (AP Photo/Scott Audette)

Jones' mug and name hit the national headlines in July after an arrest for cocaine possession in Fayetteville. Jones averted possible jail time and was allowed to enter a drug court program, but was sent to jail for those five days in March when he admitted to drinking alcohol during a golf trip. The consumption of alcohol was a violation of terms set in the court-mandated drug program.
Today, Jones was trying to deliver a positive message to nearly 100 sixth and seventh graders in Springdale. Jones, who has been training this summer at the IMG Academies in Bradenton, Fla., is also holding out hope that an NFL team will give him a second chance and come calling when training camps open up later this month.

“Any team that wants to sign me would be good for me,” Jones said.

Jones would face a $50,000 fine from the NFL in connection with his drug court violation if he returns to the NFL, according to reports. Former Arkansas coach Ken Hatfield, who participates with several local charities, was also in attendance today and told me that he believes Jones will be picked up by an NFL team.

“There’s a lot of different situations to be in,” Jones said. “... You want to go somewhere you’re wanted. You want to go somewhere, where you’re going to get to play. That’s what I want to do — just to help the team win.”

Jones credited his parents for helping him through the past year of turmoil.

“I have the best parents in the world. I’ve got great people around me, so there’s been some tough times but it’s been easy. My family is awesome."

For more, make sure to check out the Thursday edition of the Northwest Arkansas Times.

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Filed under: Arkansas Football, Uncategorized by Brandon Marcello. Posted on: June 24, 2009 at 1:35 pm
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