Conference: 7A-East
Coach: Jerry Bridges (8 years)
Last year’s record: 13-15 overall, 7-7 conference
Assistant coach: Lee Wimberley
Returning starters: Clayton Vaught (junior, 6-2, 6 points per game, 3 rebounds per game) “He’s just a hard-nosed player. I feel like his shooting has improved a lot,” Bridges said.
Best inside players: Justin McMahan (senior, 6-4) “He’s just scrappy,” he said. “He’s everywhere.” Sam Howe (senior, 6-4) “He’s probably the most improved player I’ve coached in my career from one year to the next,” he said. “He’s really worked on his game.” Joesiah Wymer (sophomore, 6-4) “He moved in from Springdale, so we feel like once he gets used to our system and what we do that he can be an asset to us in the post.”
Best outside players: Adam Rought (senior, 5-7) “Very hard nosed and gritty player,” he said. “He’s worked hard to work on his ball handling and shooting.” Arthur West (senior, 5-10) “It’s good to have him back, he’s a good all around player.” J.D. Burnett (5-7) “He can get hot in a hurry; I’m counting on him to do a lot for us.” Bryan Shrum (5-5).
How will you match/exceed/fall short of your success from last year: “We’re cautiously optimistic with the improvement we’ve seen over the summer,” he said. “We really believe we have to shoot the ball well.”
Team strengths: “We’ve got good depth” he said. “We may not have a superstar, but we have good depth.”
Games to watch: “They’re all going to be tough games,” he said. “We want to win every time we go on the floor.”
Toughest opponents: Bryant, North Little Rock and Conway. “If you want to win a conference, you’ve got to go through them,” he said.