Junior college All-American shooting guard Daryl Macon realized a a boyhood dream Tuesday when he announced his oral commitment to Arkansas.
Macon, 6-3, 185 pounds, played at Little Rock Parkview before attending Holmes Community College in Mississippi. He made an unofficial visit to Fayetteville on Monday, when he gave Razorbacks Coach Mike Anderson a private commitment.
"It's a great feeling," said Macon, who will attend Holmes next season and will be on campus at Arkansas next summer. "It's a relief. It was a lifetime dream since I was little. When you have an opportunity to make a dream come true, you ought to jump on it."
The visit allowed Macon to spend time with Arkansas' staff and players.
"I was comfortable with the staff and the players," Macon said. "I'm back home, that's how I look at it. I'm back home. I get to play in front of the hometown, your state, your family. It's the best feeling."
Macon, who averaged 21.2 points per game and was named to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette All-Arkansas Preps team as a senior at Parkview in 2014. He earned first-team junior college All-America honors as a freshman at Holmes after averaging 23 points per game. He shot 46.5 percent from the field and 36.9 percent from beyond the three-point line.
He chose the Razorbacks over scholarship offers from Alabama, Ole Miss, Louisville, Kansas State and Memphis.
"He was happy," Macon said of Anderson, who celebrated his 30th anniversary with wife Marcheita on Monday. "I don't think I've seen anybody jump like he did. It was his anniversary, and he got his first [2016] commitment."
Macon played for the Arkansas Hawks in spring and summer basketball and had a very good summer heading into his senior year at Parkview. That helped him get the attention of the Razorbacks staff and others.
"He's a highly skilled player with a great motor," Hawks General Manager Bill Ingram said. "He's a big-time shooter."
Macon is Arkansas' first commitment for the 2016 class. Oral commitments are nonbinding.
Sports on 06/17/2015