The House had its ringer (Cory Cooperwood), and the Senate did, too (Brandon Friedel), and together they helped stuff a sweet fundraising pot for two kids' charities, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arkansas and the Boys & Girls Club of Saline County.
The basketball game March 15 at the Jack Stephens Center, home to the 2016 Sun Belt champion University of Arkansas at Little Rock Trojans men's team, has become a pretty competitive affair between the state House of Representatives, led by Speaker Jeremy Gillam, and the Senate, coached by President Pro Tempore Jonathan Dismang. Before the game, the three referees -- all college-level officials -- said play had previously "gotten outta hand" and that they were there to "police" the action.
Whew. That's rough.
Cooperwood, a 6-foot-7-inch forward who played two years at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, pounded de facto Senate big man Blake Eddins, a former Razorbacks basketball player, down low. But as a ringer, Cooperwood was wormwood compared to Friedel, a former shooter for Arkansas Tech University at Russellville, who scored more than half of the Senate's 66 points, which was enough to beat the House's 59 points.
Told before the game that he might be Arkansas' greatest hoops governor, Asa Hutchinson said, in effect, yes, he must be the best basketball player currently serving the state as governor.
Asked what basketball has in common with Republican principles, on this the night of several state primaries across America, he said, "You know, stick to your fundamentals. Basketball is a game of fundamentals, and if you get your defense, your passing, your protecting the ball all wrong, you're not going to win, and to me, that's what conservative principles are all about."
About 350 came out to help raise $31,500, said Denver Peacock, who started this whole thing.
-- Story and photos by
Bobby Ampezzan
High Profile on 03/27/2016