Did Five-Star Anthony Black Choose Hogs?
Monday night on ESPN 2 served as home for the Powerade Jam Fest skills portion of the McDonald's All-American game festivities that featured highly sought-after recruit Anthony Black of Duncanville (TX) in the dunk and skills contests.
While Arkansas fans were curious as to how Black would perform in each of the competitions, the main reason Hog fans were so willing to turn their eyes back to the hardwood after Saturday's heart-breaking loss to Duke was to see whether Eric Musselman's highly rated class might possibly get the boost needed to possibly become the nation's top recruiting class.
There was a moment of confusion as ESPN came back from break at a time where the tail end of the word Arkansas could be heard over the loud speaker, but that could have been for signees Nick Smith and Jordan Walsh.
However, while a faint Hog call rang out in the background, ESPN cut to a clip of Black reaching into a cooler to pull out a red Powerade with a Razorback logo taped to it.
Photo by C. Morgan Engel, NCAA Photos via Getty Images
Moments later, a photo of Black with newly minted teammates Smith and Walsh flashed onto the screen along with images of Black's family overcome with emotion from the decision.
Black was then asked what put the Hogs over the top.
"Just being able to trust the coaches and trust they have my best interest in mind while also winning a lot of game and having a lot of fun," Walsh said. "The game plan thing really is to just come in and win and see how we can help each other get better and push each other to get better. They didn't know, but they saw me and Nick and Jordan talking a bit, so they were kinda plotting."
ESPN analyst Paul Biancardi was quick to chime in after Black's interview.
"That's not a (Muss) bus, that's a freight train right now at Arkansas with Eric Musselman," Biancardi said. "What a class! [Black] told me this week that he really enjoyed playing with Nick Smith and Jordan Walsh. I should have took that cue and figured it out."
Biancardi went on to say that ESPN would not move Arkansas above Duke in the recruiting rankings, although it's likely the Hogs jump the Blue Devils to No. 1 in other rankings.
Black was an unexpected last-second replacement for an injured fellow All-American in the skills competition. He got off to a quick start, but missed his three to lose in the semifinals.
When it came time for the dunk contest, Black not only found himself facing his future teammate in Walsh, who has a 41-inch vertical, but also Smith.
Black provided his first assist to Smith by bouncing a pass off the backboard for a windmill dunk that landed him a 57 total score. Smith was immediately passed by one of two female contestants in South Carolina signee Ashlyn Watkins who did a basic dunk for a 59.
But it soon became a battle of Arkansas vs. Texas as Dillon Mitchell scored a perfect 60. Jordan Walsh tried to take him down by jumping over three teammate for a dunk. He cleared the three teammates multiple times, but had too much power on his dunks to knock it down.
In the second round Nick Smith tossed a lob to himself, caught it, went between the legs for another windmill dunk. Unfortunately, he only scored a 56. Watkins then hit another relatively basic dunk to tie Smith at 113.
Mitchell gave the Longhorns bragging rights for the moments as Mitchell hit a 54 to take the lead with a 114 total. However, Walsh decided to bring out four teammates, including two 7-footers to up his previous dunk attempt.
But it soon became a battle of Arkansas vs. Texas as Dillon Mitchell scored a perfect 60. Jordan Walsh tried to take him down by jumping over three teammate for a dunk. He cleared the three teammates multiple times, but had too much power on his dunks to knock it down.
In the second round Nick Smith tossed a lob to himself, caught it, went between the legs for another windmill dunk. Unfortunately, he only scored a 56. Watkins then hit another relatively basic dunk to tie Smith at 113.
Mitchell gave the Longhorns bragging rights for the moments as Mitchell hit a 54 to take the lead with a 114 total. However, Walsh decided to bring out four teammates, including two 7-footers to up his previous dunk attempt.
In the end, Walsh finished the event without completing a dunk. That meant Smith, Mitchell and Watkins would advance to the finals.
Even though Black bowed out of the dunk contest at the last second to compete in the skills competition, he again affected the event as he threw his second assist to Smith with a pass off the side of the backboard for a perfect score dunk.
The Longhorn's Mitchell hit a 58 on a 360 dunk to finish with a 113 in the final. Watkins followed with a pass from one of the players off the backboard for a glorified tip-in with a rim grab afterward.
That meant Smith would need a 59 to tie and a 60 to win. So he took out his cell phone and streamed a lob pass to himself with a powerful dunk complete with a selfie.
Unfortunately, the judges changed their score at the last second to give Watkins the win.
5-STAR ANTHONY BLACK HAS BIG CHOICE AND REASONS ALL POINT TO HOGS
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