FAYETTEVILLE — Derek Hood, who ranks No. 2 in career rebounding for the University of Arkansas men’s basketball team, was announced Wednesday as the Razorbacks’ representative for the latest class of SEC Legends.
A former player or coach from each of the 14 conference schools will be honored at the SEC Tournament, which will be held March 13-17 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.
Each Legend will be recognized at halftime of the first game played by his team.
Hood, a 6-8 forward, played in 131 games with 122 starts for Arkansas from the 1995-96 through 1998-99 seasons. He grabbed 1,002 for the second-highest total in program history behind Sidney Moncrief’s 1,015.
Hood also scored 1,247 points to rank No. 24 on Arkansas’ all-time list. His career averages were 9.5 points and 7.6 rebounds.
As a senior Hood averaged 12.4 points and an SEC-leading10.3 rebounds, shot 56.5% from the field to lead the conference and was a second-team All-SEC pick. He also led the SEC in rebounding as a sophomore with an average of 8.0 per game.
Hood and Moncrief are the only Razorbacks with more than 1,000 points and more than 1,000 rebounds.
Hood helped the Razorbacks make three NCAA Tournament appearances in 1996, 1998 and 1999 and played on an NIT Final Four team in 1997.
He was a 1995 McDonald’s All-American at Kansas City (Mo.) Central High School.
The full list of this year’s SEC Legends:
Alabama – Richard Hendrix
Arkansas – Derek Hood
Auburn – Cliff Ellis
Florida – Taurean Green
Georgia – Rashad Wright
Kentucky – Orlando “Tubby” Smith
LSU – Darrel Mitchell
Ole Miss – Dwayne Curtis
Mississippi State – Timmy Bowers
Missouri – Willie Smith
South Carolina – Joe Rhett
Tennessee – Chris Lofton
Texas A&M – Elston Turner
Vanderbilt – Frank Seckar