PINE BLUFF — Razorbacks past and present from South Arkansas were brought together Sunday at the Pine Bluff Convention Center.
Before an estimated crowd of 3,500 watched Coach John Calipari’s first Arkansas men’s basketball team hold an open practice, an honorary starting five of U.S. Reed, Andrew Lang, Ken Biley, Chris Walker and Ernie Murry were introduced to the fans.
Todd Day — the Razorbacks’ all-time leading scorer with 2,395 points and a former NBA player — also was introduced as the team’s sixth man.
Those six played for either Eddie Sutton or Nolan Richardson (Lang played for both) at Arkansas. Sutton and Richardson are Naismith Memorial Basketball of Hall of Fame inductees as coaches, as is Calipari.
Sutton led Arkansas to the 1978 Final Four and NCAA Tournaments appearances in his final 9 of 11 seasons on the job. Richardson led the Razorbacks to their lone national championship in 1994, a runner-up finish in 1995 and the 1990 Final Four.
“This program did not start with me,” Calipari, who was Kentucky’s coach the previous 15 seasons, said after Sunday’s practice. “I just happen to rent the seat.
“What Eddie Sutton did, what Coach Richardson did, what the other coaches did, you want to make sure you’re tying everybody into this.”
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Reed, a four-year starting guard for Arkansas from Pine Bluff High School, is best-remembered for hitting a last-second, half-court shot that lifted Arkansas to a 74-73 victory over Louisville in the 1981 NCAA Tournament.
“This is great for the city, great for the state, great for the kids,” Reed said of Arkansas having a practice in his hometown. “As former players, it’s great for us to see this as well.”
The Razorbacks played games annually in the Pine Bluff Convention Center from the 1977-78 through 1992-93 seasons before Walton Arena opened on the Arkansas campus.
“This is a historic place for Razorback basketball,” Reed said. “There are a lot of great memories here. For people in the Delta and this part of the state to see the Razorbacks means a lot.”
Lang, an Arkansas center from 1985-88, was a McDonald’s All-American at Pine Bluff Dollarway High School.
“I remember seeing Arkansas beat North Carolina in this building,” Lang said, referring to the Razorbacks’ 65-64 victory over the No. 1 Tar Heels in 1984. “I remember playing Ohio State in this building.”
Lang, who played 12 seasons in the NBA, helped the Razorbacks beat the Buckeyes 79-70 in overtime during the 1985-86 season when he was a sophomore.
“I love it that the Razorbacks have come back to Pine Bluff,” said Murry, a guard from nearby Wabbeska who played on the Razorbacks’ 1990 Final Four team. “They haven’t been here in more than 30 years.”
Murry lives in Bryant and is executive director of the nonprofit organization SOAR, which stands for Students Of Achievement and Responsibility and provides students in the Pine Bluff area after-school academic, social and spiritual programs.
“Ernie Murry is my best friend and called and said, ‘Hey, man, the Razorbacks are coming to Pine Bluff. You need to come back,’ ” said Biley, who starred at Pine Bluff High School.
Biley, a district manager for H&R Block in Houston, made the 8 1/2-hour drive to Pine Bluff on Sunday.
“I left Houston at 4:30 a.m.,” Biley said. “But it was worth it to be here and see the Razorbacks.”
In Biley’s final game at Arkansas, he started against Duke in the 1994 NCAA Tournament championship game, guarded Blue Devils All-American Grant Hill and held him scoreless the first five minutes as the Razorbacks went on to win 76-72.
“Great memories playing here in the Pine Bluff Convention Center,” Biley said. “I played in the King Cotton Classic and then as a Razorback.
“To have the Razorbacks back, this is what a lot of people here in Southeast Arkansas have been waiting for. I had to be here to be a part of this and welcome the Razorbacks and Coach Cal to Pine Bluff, Arkansas.”
Some of the current Razorbacks were held out of Sunday’s practice or did limited work without contact, including senior guard Johnell Davis, senior forward Jonas Aidoo and junior forward Adou Thiero. They also sat out or didn’t go full speed Saturday when the Razorbacks practiced in Hot Springs.
As Calipari told the crowds at both practices, he’d rather have the players who are banged up ready for the start of the season than risk aggravating injuries now.
A group of nine players went through the entire practices Saturday and Sunday — led by junior forward Trevon Brazile, sophomore guard D.J. Wagner, sophomore forward Zvonimir Ivisic, freshman guard Boogie Fland and freshman forward Karter Knox and Billy Richmond — and worked against the graduate assistants on staff.
“To do this on back-to-back days, to do it a little undermanned where some guys are on the court the whole time, I’m amazed what we’re getting done,” Calipari said.
In addition to driving from Fayetteville to Hot Springs and then to Pine Bluff and going through two practices, the Razorbacks took part in photo and autograph sessions as well as donating 3,000 shoes at two Samaritan’s Feet events.
“I’m kind of proud of them,” Calipari said. “And hopefully it gives the people throughout the state a chance to see who our players are and then what the program is about, which is reaching out into the community.”
Calipari wore a red pullover for Saturday’s and Sunday’s practices after being in Kentucky blue for so long.
“I’m used to it now,” Reed said of seeing Calipari in Razorback colors. “He looks good in red.”
Lang and Walker — who went to Pine Bluff High School and as an Arkansas senior played on the Razorbacks’ only SEC Tournament championship team in 2000 — traveled from Atlanta to Pine Bluff for Sunday’s event.
“The Razorbacks are coming to my hometown,” said Walker, who works in phone technology. “I can’t help but support that and be a part of it. It’s beautiful for the city of Pine Bluff to have the Razorbacks here.”
Lang retired after 20 years as an ordained minister — including serving as chaplain for the Atlanta Hawks, one of his former NBA teams — and now works in real estate.
“Meeting Cal, he personally received me with open arms,” Lang said. “I can’t tell you how much that means to me. I wish him nothing but the best. I think the state is very lucky to have him.”
Calipari, hired at Arkansas on April 10, led Kentucky to the Final Four four times and won the 2012 national championship. He also had Final Four teams at Massachusetts and Memphis.
“We’re glad to have Coach Cal as part of Razorback Nation,” said Reed, who lives in Maumelle and works in fund-raising for the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. “It’s really a blessing to have him on our side.
“You feel like we’re back on top with the Arkansas name. The national respect is back. It was a blessing to see his team in Pine Bluff.”
