LITTLE ROCK — Aaron Ross committed to the University of Arkansas as a high school freshman, and he never wavered on that decision.
On Wednesday, Ross stuck to his word and signed a national basketball letter of intent with the Razorbacks as his parents Dale and Lillian, siblings Carlos and Kejiunna, and an enthusiastic Little Rock Parkview student body celebrated his accomplishment.
“I always felt that Arkansas was a natural fit for me,” said Ross, a 6-7 forward. “I never thought about going anywhere else, and I never had any regrets about committing so early.”
Ross is part of a much heralded class of Arkansas high school players whoare expected to give the Razorbacks a needed boost in the next couple of years. Hunter Mickelson of Jonesboro Westside also signed with Arkansas on Wednesday. Rashad “Ky” Madden of East Poinsett County, another Arkansas prep standout who has verbally committed to the Razorbacks, has scheduled his signing for Friday. Verbal commitments, however, are nonbinding.
“I’ve been playing with Hunter and Ky for a long time,” Ross said. “It will be good to play with them again.”
Introduced as the “The Big Ticket” at Westside High School in Jonesboro, the 6-10 1/2 Mickelson signed with the Razorbacks with his parents Darrien and Lynne and siblings Lindsey and Chase looking on.
Mickelson was the MVP of last year’s Class 4A state tournament. He had 23 points and 13 rebounds in the title game.
Arkansas Coach John Pelphrey and his assistants have been regulars at Mickelson’s games since his freshman season.
“After talking with Coach Pelphrey and the rest of the coaches, I knew Arkansas was going to be the best spot for me,” Mickelson said. “It was exciting having all the guys and my friends around me and up in the stands today. Everything went just as I expected it to be.”
Mickelson is the first boys basketball player from Westside to earn an NCAA Division I scholarship.
“He never wavered,” Darrien Mickelson said. “County road 340 here in Jonesboro was a long way from Florida and a lot of the other schools. He really liked Coach Pelphrey. We’re really excited for him. We just want him to go up there, represent Jonesboro and Westside and continue on with his career.”
While Mickelson has already helped the Warriors earn one state title, Parkview Coach Al Flanigan said he hopes Ross can do the same for the Patriots this year.
“Aaron has meant a lot to this program, but I hope to say a little later on that his play led us to a championship,” Flanigan said. “Just having somebody around like him at that size who can put the ball in the hole is tremendous. We haven’t had anybody around here like him in a long time. We haven’t had that since Maurice Robinson in 1991. Aaron is a tremendous player for me.”
Ross was the Patriots’ leading scorer in every game last season, and he was also an 85 percent shooter from the free-throw line. Ross said he expects to do more of the same this season.
“He can be much better this year,” Flanigan said. “He’s got some guards that can get him the ball. He’s capable to doing that. He could average 30 [points per game] if he wanted to. All he needs to do is apply himself. He’s too laid-back for me sometimes. Hopefully that will change before he gets on that hill [Fayetteville].”
Austin Emerson contributed to this report.
Sports, Pages 21 on 11/11/2010