Former Hog Foe Quinerly on Why He Chose to Not Be Razorback

Specific thoughts on Musselman drove McDonald's All-American to Alabama instead

Author:
Kent Smith
Publish date:
Nov 22, 2023 11:05 PM EST

In this story:

Back before the start of the season we spoke with Memphis head coach Penny Hardaway and Alabama transfer Jahvon Quinerly about the Arkansas Razorbacks. This is Story 2 of two. Arkansas and Memphis will renew their rivalry in the Battle 4 Atlantis at 4 p.m. Thanksgiving Day.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – It will come as no surprise that former highly decorated Alabama guard Jahvon Quinerly was recruited by Razorback coach Eric Musselman as a transfer. However, according to him, most Arkansas fans probably don't realize that recruitment didn't take place when they think.

Most fans probably assume Musselman made a run at the SEC Sixth Man of the Year and former All-SEC Tournament star once he ended his three years at Alabama this past spring prior to Quinerly signing with Penny Hardaway's Memphis Tigers. However, that's not the time frame Quinerly is talking about.

"A lot of people don't know this, especially Arkansas fans," Quinerly said. "When I was transferring from Villanova, Bama and Arkansas were probably the first two schools to reach out to me."

Had it worked out, that would have put Quinerly on the team with JD Notae, Justin Smith, Moses Moody and freshman versions of Jaylin Williams and Davonte Davis. It certainly would have changed the dynamic of the team. There were plenty of reasons for the guard to consider Arkansas over Alabama at the time, but ultimately it came down to personal taste.

"I will say, he gets guys to the league, for sure," Quinerly said. "For me, personally, I love the way he runs his program, but with the extra taking his shirt off, jumping on the table after a win, I was never a big fan of that. I'm not going to say I don't like him as a coach. He's done great things with his program. He's put a lot of guys into the NBA. At the end of the day, that's a success story. He's doing well for himself, but I was just never a fan of the other stuff."

What followed his transfer decision was three years of regular season dominance over Arkansas. Quinerly takes pride in going 4-1 against Arkansas in what he considered a rivalry second only to the Tide's skirmishes with Auburn.

"It's a little mini-rivalry I would say," Quinerly said. "I was fortunate enough that I only lost to them once or twice in three years. That's a rivalry that basketball-wise has really grown. Outside of Auburn and Bama. Arkansas and Bama is probably next."

However, despite all the regular season success, there's one thing about the Razorbacks that has stuck with him even now that he's in Memphis. While Alabama took home regular season and SEC Tournament titles, his peers at Arkansas got to go on magical NCAA Tournament runs.

"Arkansas has had a lot of postseason success, but hasn't been able to see that same success in conference and Bama is kinda the opposite," Quinerly said. "Bama has seen that success recently in conference, but can't get over the hump postseason. That's interesting to me."

Upon hearing Arkansas fans don't get too worked up over regular season titles and have historically shown a preference for winning a couple of games in the SEC Tournament and then getting home to rest up for an NCAA run unless a championship is needed to make the Field of 64, Quinerly took a moment to reflect on whether that wouldn't have been a better approach while he was in Tuscaloosa.

"That's something I was thinking about even last year," Quinerly said. "I had won the SEC before and went and lost to a 13-seed UCLA who wasn't even supposed to be in there. It would better if we lose the tournament championship and we would be more locked in."

After wrapping his time at Alabama, despite the wishes of portions of the Razorback fan base, Quinerly didn't put much consideration into coming to Arkansas. It was time to do something different.

He considered Seton Hall as a favor to his family to keep them from having to travel so much. Kansas State wanted him to fill the role Marcus Noelle played last season for the Wildcats. However, no matter where he considered, one thing he knew for sure was he wanted to step away from the SEC.

"I was just looking for some change," Quinerly said. "I spent four years in the SEC. My last year, I wanted to put myself in a situation where I am uncomfortable because that's where I thrive. I did it from Nova to Bama. Now, I'm gonna do it from Bama to Memphis."

Going to Memphis allowed him to rekindle basketball relationships with familiar faces. Quinerly said fellow guard Jaykwon Walton was originally supposed to join him at Alabama and forward Jordan Brown was a McDonald's All-American with Quinerly and future NBA star Zion Williamson.

It also gives him a chance to potentially add to his winning ways over the Razorbacks. If Quinerly can lead the Tigers to a win over Michigan in the Battle 4 Atlantis and Arkansas takes down Stanford in the opening round, Musselman will once again be tasked with slowing down his former recruit.

If that all works out, that game will be on the ESPN Networks on Thursday, Nov. 23.