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Sweet 16 Notebook: Hogs Hold Final Practice in Prep for Texas Tech

Notes, takeaways, observations, clips from Arkansas' Sweet 16 prep at the Chase Center

Curtis Wilkerson

Arkansas Razorbacks guard D.J. Wagner (21) and guard Johnell Davis (1) during NCAA Tournament West Regional Practice at Chase Center.
Arkansas Razorbacks guard D.J. Wagner (21) and guard Johnell Davis (1) during NCAA Tournament West Regional Practice at Chase Center. / Eakin Howard-Imagn Images
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SAN FRANCISCO, Cali. — Arkansas men's basketball held its final full practice at the Chase Center on Wednesday in advance of Thursday's NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 game with Texas Tech.

"Arkansas Razorbacks on SI" had boots on the ground for the media viewing segment of practice as well as locker room interviews with the team. Here are several notes, takeaways, observations and clips from the day:

Adou Gone AWOL?

John Calipari created quite the buzz Tuesday when he announced junior forward and leading-scorer Adou Thiero would be available to play against Texas Tech. The team's official X account followed up with clips of him taking contact and dunking at practice.

Media members were allowed to view the first 15 minutes of Arkansas' practice Wednesday. Thiero was dressed out, but sitting on the bench as the Razorbacks got loose and began drill work.

Thiero not being unleashed to the public eye for 15 minutes out of 90-minute practice session could mean anything from Calipari playing coy to Thiero resting up after a full practice day to an unexpected setback.

Naturally, Calipari was asked about the situation during his media availability following the team's workout.

"Adou practiced yesterday," Calipari said. "Leg was bothering him, so I didn't put him through anything [today], so we'll see tomorrow. If we had 8-10 minutes from him in case of foul trouble that would help, but we're fine."

Different Feel on Floor in San Francisco

Wednesday's open practice section was quite a bit different than last week's in Providence. Then, Arkansas had already gone through its full practice at Brown and had a light-hearted shoot around that was open to the public afterward.

At the Chase Center Wednesday, the Razorbacks got right to business with team stretches, a warm-up and went straight into drill work with guards on one end of the floor and the forwards on the other.

Arkansas' guards worked on finishing with contact, running off screens, creating last-second shots and getting up plenty of threes. The big men did post work and got into ball-screen drills with the redshirts working on both pick-and-roll and pick-and-pop action

Who Popped at Practice?

While Wednesday's media viewing portion of practice was roughly half as long as last week's in Providence, the Razorbacks were actually, well, practicing, which led to a better set of takeaways.

Johnell Davis was a clear standout on the floor. The senior guard was red-hot from three and looked extremely comfortable in the house that Steph Curry — or Moses Moody, perhaps — built. He was also setting the tone by taking every rep at game speed with purpose.

Freshman guard Billy Richmond's explosiveness jumped out of the gym, both literally and figuratively. While his teammates worked on absorbing contact from a graduate assistant and finishing with touch off the glass, Richmond opted to rise up and hammer dunks on the staff. He shot exceptionally well on mid-range pull-ups and corner threes.

On the other end of the floor, Trevon Brazile had the most pop. He got into a nice rhythm from three working on pick-and-pops and dunked everything when working on the block or hard rolls to the rim.

More Notes & Nuggets

• Overheard a national photographer on the floor talking to a local reporter saying that he just watched Maryland practice and was currently impressed with how much harder Arkansas practices.

• There has been a bit of a viral storyline recently about the basketballs at the NCAA Tournament being over-inflated and hard off the rim. Interestingly, overheard one of Arkansas' guards and a coach say "the ball ain't bouncing in here."

• Assistant coach Chin Coleman continues to be the vibe coordinator of the staff. Every time freshman guard Boogie Fland touched the basketball during the media portion of practice, Coleman would yell "No restrictions, Boogie" to encourage him to take game-speed reps, but also to remind the grad assistants not to take it easy when it comes to being physical with him.

HOGS FEED:

• Kozeal Returns to Former Home Field at New Position with Razorbacks

• Former Razorback Stepping Up NBA Game in March

• Pittman feels better about Hogs' defense midway through spring practice

• Calipari Not Working Transfer Portal Even Though It's Open

• Calipari Focused on Hogs, Not Wildcats Ahead of Sweet 16

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Curtis Wilkerson
CURTIS WILKERSON

Curtis is in his fifth year on the beat covering Arkansas basketball, football, baseball and recruiting. Prior to his time in Fayetteville, he spent eight years coaching basketball at the small-college level in Illinois and spent two years contributing as a scout and recruiting analyst with Prep Hoops. He holds a bachelor's degree in Athletic Training and a master's in Administration.

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