Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
UAFS has new coach, new look, new conference
FORT SMITH — Things are looking a lot different for the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith men’s basketball team heading into this season.
The program has a new coach in veteran Jim Boone, a mostly new roster and the team enters its first season playing in the Lone Star Conference.
“If you want to talk about new, we are all about new,” Boone said with a laugh. “We are looking at new faces in a new institution, a new system and a new league. There has been a lot of change. This group has embraced it and has worked hard.”
Boone, hired back in April, takes over the men’s program after the Lions finished 10-19 and 4-12 in conference play a season ago. This won’t be the first time Boone has been a part of a rebuilding process.
He has 558 career wins, 14th most in NCAA Division II, and his teams have won seven conference championships, four tournament titles and have made 11 postseason appearances. Boone has guided four different schools to the NCAA Tournament as well.
“We’ve been a part of a lot of turnarounds,” Boone said. “There usually is resistance to change, but we haven’t had that with this group. These guys have bought in and are focused. They want to play well.”
The Lions return two starters in senior guard Seth Hawley from Fort Smith Southside and senior forward Matt Morgan. Hawley brings back his average of 11 points scored per game, while Morgan had a team-high six rebounds and two blocks per game.
Sophomore post David Ekezie, sophomore forward Braden Boyer, sophomore guard Matiss Sivins and redshirt freshman Major Smith all return looking to make an impact as well.
“We have some great pieces returning,” Boone said. “We are excited to have those guys play a role in the season. I believe Seth’s game fits what we do well. He is an outstanding shooter and a hardnosed defensive player. Those are things we really value. Matt provides a lot on the defensive side of the ball for us as well.”
Boone was able to bring in a sevenman recruiting class that will play a big role in the Lions bouncing back from last season. It is headlined by junior guard Matthew Wilson from Farmington, junior guard Charles Botchway and senior guard Brian Halums from Ole Miss.
The Lions also will look for impact from first-year players in sophomore guard Daryl McElrath, junior forward Chris Rollins, freshman guard Evan Anderson and freshman forward Alex Brogdon.
“We are very excited to get as much talent as we did in one class,” Boone said. “Matthew (Wilson) is excited to be closer to home and playing near his backyard. It’s always nice getting Division I talent like Brian. And Charles is going to be the spark plug and key to this turnaround. He is a coach’s point guard. We look for everybody to play key roles.”
The Lions enter with uncertainty on what roles will be for each player, but Boone said the talent on the team will allow them to be good once all is figured out.
“I don’t know when we are going to fit the puzzle together,” Boone said. “But we are going to come in every day and work hard. One day we are going to put it all together. We’ll have every opportunity to do that because we have a good group of kids.”
UAFS LADY LIONS
University of Arkansas-Fort Smith coach Tari Cummings got off to a bit of a late start being hired in July last year. That didn’t slow her down much in her first season ever as a head coach.
Cummings, a former assistant coach and player at the program, was able to guide the Lady Lions to a 10-17 overall and a 7-7 conference record. That included making the conference tournament in the program’s final year in the Heartland Conference.
“That first year was definitely a learning experience,” Cummings said. “There was a lot of good we did last year. We didn’t finish the way I would’ve liked. I have high expectations. But we did get better as the year went. We have established the culture moving forward.”
The Lady Lions return four key players back from last year’s team in senior forward Tamera Gulley, senior guard Alexsis Brown, junior guard Dachelle Terry from Springdale and sophomore forward Leiloni Culley.
Gulley averaged nine points and six rebounds a season ago, while Brown had eight points and three assists per game a year ago.
“Gulley and Brown are our two seniors and we are expecting big things from both,” Cummings said. “Gulley is working hard and making changes in a positive way. Alexsis hurt her ankle and wasn’t fully healthy all last year. We are expecting her to have a great season. Leadership is key from both of them.”
Terry and Culley will be key contributors as well bring back a lot of experience.
“I project more on offense from Terry this year,” Cummings said. “She will be more steady shooting the ball for us. Culley has come back a completely different person from her freshman year. She had some big games down the stretch for us. We hope to see that more consistently.”
Transfers in junior guard Paige Elston and junior post Mar’Shalia Lollie alongside a freshman class of Hannah Boyett, Flaka Ortiz, Tarondia Harold, Ashanti Eden, Laurissa Campbell are all expected to make an impact.
“We are excited to have the transfers bring some experience to our team,” Cummings said. “They will help us out a lot. Our freshmen are young right now. But it’s exciting because each of them brings something to the table. For us to be as good as we want to be, everybody will need to help out.”
The Lady Lions will compete in the Lone Star Conference for the first time this season. It’ll be a new conference, but the team will still have the same goal as last year of wanting to keep the season alive with postseason play.
“We are all on the same page because we want to win as many games as we can,” Cummings said. “We want to make the cut to the conference tournament because not everybody makes it in that. We just want to win games. We keep it as simple as that sometimes.”