BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — To his left, being interviewed by six people, was Billy Donovan, the two-time defending national champion coach at Florida.
One of those six was Jimmy Dykes, who will increase his ESPN role this basketball season to studio analyst on Wednesdays.
Dykes didn't need to interview John Pelphrey, the new head basketball coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks. He talks to him on a regular basis.
"I really, really like him," Dykes said. "He's going to do a super job."
Patrick Beverley and Charles Thomas stood behind Pelphrey.
The two returning Razorbacks measured their words carefully when it came to comparing the new coach to the old coach.
Thomas, a senior who has lost about 20 pounds, answered almost every question with a politically measured "They are both good coaches, and I respect them both." He did admit that Pelphrey is "more vocal."
Intense is another word he could have used. Or disciplined. Or driven.
Stan Heath was and is a good person who left the program in better shape than it was in when he came on board.
Heath was terminated after a second appearance in the NCAA Tournament without a victory and is now the head coach at South Florida.
His replacement, Pelphrey, was one of the most soughtafter interviews Wednesday at SEC Basketball Media Days.
Reporters were two deep around him most of the morning and included many Kentucky writers who remember him fondly as a Wildcat who helped resurrect the program after it was hit with NCAA sanctions.
Of course he was asked about playing against the Razorbacks in Rupp Arena, when the Hogs shocked the Big Blue Nation and won.
Pelphrey was very complimentary of Nolan Richardson's game plan that afternoon.
Wearing a light brown suit with a pattern blue shirt and a striped tie with blue in it, Pelphrey was asked how many redties he now owns.
"A lot more than I did six months ago," he said with a small laugh.
Surprisingly, none were gifts.
Pelphrey has embraced Arkansas and vice versa.
Since that initial news conference when he called the hogs with enthusiasm - incidentally, he caught sight of a zealous fan that day and followed that guy's hog call - Pelphrey has been all basketball business.
Yes, there have been some meet-and-greet meetings and he personally asked to have a sit-down with Bill Ingram and Ron Crawford, the two most influential summer basketball men in the state.
As expected, the questions eventually moved away from his playing days to what he expects out of the Razorbacks.
Understand that while Thomas might not say it, insiders say Pelphrey has remodeled the players into a different team.
By the end of last season the players were divided. There was lots of finger-pointing and yelling at each other behind closed doors.
It was obvious, too, they were not in shape, aside from Beverley, and at times lacked discipline.
"They are in shape now, they are all on the same page, and John will get in their grill at practice if he needs to," one observer said.
Conditioning is huge because the Razorbacks are going to be much more like the days when Richardson was the coach rather than Heath.
"We want to push it," Pelphrey said. "This team is athletic, and I want them to be uptempo but be smart about it.
"We are going to press and trap, and when you do, you foul more, but we can't afford to pick up cheap fouls."
Pelphrey said he has heard from a lot of relatives who are interested in coming to a Razorbacks game.
"I had one cousin tell me he was going to pull for Arkansas every game but one [Kentucky]," Pelphrey said with a laugh. "I asked him how he was going to get in the game."
Pelphrey was relaxed, witty, pleasant and surrounded by the media, who also asked why he wasn't wearing a red tie.
"Saving them for the games," he said. "We have a lot of games coming up."
And probably the most anticipation and excitement for Arkansas basketball fans in a decade.
Sports, Pages 17 on 10/25/2007