FAYETTEVILLE -- Derek Hood, who ranks second in career rebounding for the University of Arkansas men's basketball team, was announced Wednesday by the SEC office as the Razorbacks' representative for the latest class of SEC Legends.
A former player or coach from 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 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 and grabbed 1,002 rebounds, the second-highest total in program history behind Sidney Moncrief's 1,015.
Hood also scored 1,247 points to rank 24th on Arkansas' all-time list. His career averages were 9.5 points and 7.6 rebounds per game .
As a senior, Hood averaged 12.4 points and an SEC-leading 10.3 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, inducted into the UA Sports Hall of Honor in 2015, helped the Razorbacks make three NCAA Tournament appearances in 1996, 1998 and 1999 and played on an NIT Final Four team in 1997.
Hood, a 1995 McDonald's All-American at Kansas City (Mo.) Central High School, is a teacher at Utley Middle School in Rockwall, Texas.
The SEC's 2024 legend class also includes Richard Hendrix, Alabama; Cliff Ellis, Auburn; Taurean Green, Florida; Rashad Wright, Georgia; Tubby Smith, Kentucky; Darrel Mitchell, LSU; Dwayne Curtis, Ole Miss; Timmy Bowers; Mississippi State; Joe Rhett, South Carolina; Chris Lofton, Tennessee; Elston Turner, Texas A&M and Frank Seckar, Vanderbilt.
Ellis joins club
Senior guard El Ellis became the fourth Arkansas player this season to surpass 1,000 points for his career.
Ellis scored 19 points in the Razorbacks' 85-82 loss to Vanderbilt on Tuesday night to give him 1,008 for his three NCAA Division I seasons. He played at Louisville the previous two seasons before transferring to Arkansas and played two seasons at Tallahassee (Fla.) Community College.
Ellis matched his season-high against Vanderbilt. He also scored 19 points against North Carolina-Greensboro.
The other three Razorbacks to surpass 1,000 career points this season are senior guards Khalif Battle (1,214) and Davonte "Devo" Davis (1,089) and junior guard Tramon Mark (1,180).
Davis has scored all of his points for the Razorbacks while Battle and Mark transferred to Arkansas this season from Temple and Houston, respectively. Battle also played at Butler as a freshman.
Make it 78
Khalif Battle scored 36 points against Vanderbilt after having 42 the previous game in Arkansas' 88-73 victory over Missouri.
Battle's 78 points are the second-most scored in back-to-back games by a Razorback and the most in SEC play.
Martin Terry scored 82 points in consecutive Southwest Conference games for Arkansas in 1973 when he had 35 at TCU and 47 against SMU.
Battle is the third Razorback to score 30 or more points in at least two consecutive SEC games along with Mason Jones and Jannero Pargo.
Jones did it in twice in 2020. First he scored 34 against South Carolina, 30 against Alabama and 40 against Auburn in three consecutive games, then scored 36 against LSU and 30 against Texas A&M in back-to-back games.
Pargo scored 35 points against Florida and 33 against Alabama in back-to-back games in 2002.
Walton losses
Arkansas dropped to 10-6 at Walton Arena this season with its loss to Vanderbilt on Tuesday night.
It's the most losses for the Razorbacks at Walton Arena since the 2018-19 season, when they were 12-6. They lost at least six games at Walton Arena in four other seasons. They were 8-8 in 2002-03, 10-6 in 2003-04, 12-6 in 2008-09 and 12-9 in 2009-10.