FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — There’s little doubt Jerry Jones and his family have had a close relationship with the University of Arkansas and its athletics program.
The Dallas Cowboys owner has routinely appeared at games, including this past weekend against Texas, contributed to facilities and provided a home in the DFW Metroplex for the annual Southwest Classic game against Texas A&M. However, the relationship may not be as involved as Razorbacks fans imagine and isn’t necessarily one that will continue with the family into perpetuity.
Cowboys executive Stephen Jones, son of the infamous former Razorback, closed out his regulariinterview with 105.3 The Fan in Dallas with the K&C Masterpiece by answering a question many Arkansas fans have pondered, and in many cases, assumed was possible.
“Have you ever thought about tipping the scales on that rivalry and pumping all the NIL money into Arkansas and really just making this a no contest?” the host asked in regard to the renewed series against Texas in the SEC.
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It’s an argument made on many message boards that is sometimes used as a reason against keeping Arkansas coach Sam Pittman. Certain fans just assume if a more high profile coach were brought in, then it would persuade the elder Jones to dip into his ever growing bank account and toss his spare millions into the Razorbacks’ NIL pot to purchase a dream season or two.
Unfortunately, according to Stephen Jones, that’s not going to happen. As in, never, ever going to happen.
“Well, we’ve got our own payroll, as you know, keeps us busy, and I don’t know that we need to add an NIL to it,” Jones said. “The other thing is, the NFL certainly has rules on the football side of things that really keep a finger on what an NFL owner can do in terms of NIL, which, of course, as you know, would make sense. You’ve got to come through college to the NFL. They keep a close eye on that and it’s really difficult to get involved in in that aspect of it as an NFL owner.”
As far as the idea the Jones family is strictly a Razorbacks family, it may have once been, but it’s now a divided home, which was on display this past weekend. As the years have gone by, the percentage of Texas fans in the household has increased.
“I think [Arkansas] had some opportunities late and some momentum, but didn’t quite work out for my Hogs this time,” Jones said. “But I’ve got a lot of family members, including three of my daughters, who are Longhorns, and so we’ve got a little split family going on here. But hats off to the Longhorns and wish them nothing but the best as they move forward and have a shot to pursue a national championship.”
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Arkansas quarterback signee Madden Iamaleava and receiver signee Jace Brown will make their official visits to Fayetteville this weekend.
Both flipped their commitments from UCLA on the Dec. 4 signing day.
Iamaleava, 6-3 and 200 pounds, of Long Beach Poly High School in California is rated a 4-star prospect by 247Sports, ESPN and Rivals.
He also had offers from Tennessee, Oregon, SMU, Ole Miss, Washington and others.
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Iamaleava the brother of Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava, is rated the No. 13 pocket-passer quarterback and No. 143 overall recruit by ESPN.
Brown, 6-4 and 200-pounds, of Long Beach Poly High School in California had offers from Notre Dame, Arizona, Minnesota, UNLV, Utah and others.
He is a consensus 3-star recruit. Brown and Iamaleava plan to enroll at Arkansas in January. Neither signee has visited Fayetteville as recruits prior to signing with the team.
Iamaleava visited Fayetteville to watch his brother and the Volunteers take on Arkansas on Oct. 5.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – No. 6 LSU (16-0, 1-0 SEC) opened SEC play with a resounding 98-64 win at Arkansas (7-9, 0-1 SEC) Thursday night in Bud Walton Arena.
“I could tell quickly that we were clicking on all cylinders,” Coach Kim Mulkey said. “A lot of that had to do with our transition offense and long rebounds that gave everyone the green light down the court.”
Aneesah Morrow earned her 14th double-double of the season with an 11 point, 10 rebound showing. It was also her 88th career double-double, tied for the fourth most in NCAA DI history.
Flau’jae Johnson logged her 4th double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Kailyn Gilbert posted 16 points on 7-12 shooting in 18 minutes of action and Mikaylah Williams scored 14 points and tacked on 2 rebounds and 1 steal.
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Last-Tear Poa was effective too, going 3-4 for her first threes of the season and scoring 9 points with 6 assists.
Jersey Wolfenbarger, going up against her former team, scored 8 points with 5 rebounds. LSU was proactive throughout its whole roster Thursday night as all 12 players who were available scored.
“I was very impressed with Poa,” Coach Mulkey said. “We didn’t expect them to guard Poa and we thought they would double down on Morrow which they did, but Poa gained some confidence back tonight by hitting some shots.”
Arkansas was led by Izzy Higginbottom, who scored a game-high 27 points on 10-21 shooting. Vera Ojenuwa paced the Razorbacks with 8 rebounds. Arkansas shot just 36-percent and 31-percent from deep.
Williams opened the scoring for LSU in its first conference test. The Tigers jumped out to an early 7-0 lead over the Razorbacks after starting the contest an efficient 3-5 from the field.
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LSU expanded its lead to double digits at 12-2 after Last-Tear Poa connected on her first three pointer of the season. The Arkansas offense strung together scoring possessions to go on an 8-0 run late in the first quarter.
LSU maintained production on the offensive end of the floor to end the first quarter with a 23-14 lead over the Razorbacks. Wolfenbarger led the Tigers in scoring with 6 points on 3-4 shooting in the first quarter. LSU was stifling on the defensive side and forced 7 Arkansas turnovers in the opening period.
Sa’Myah Smith got the Tigers started with a mid-range jumper to open the second quarter. LSU started the second period with a 9-4 scoring run and held Arkansas to a 2-5 shooting mark to begin the quarter.
Williams connected on a pull up three pointer to put the Tigers up 37-22 midway through the second. LSU held Arkansas scoreless in the last 4 minutes of the half to take a commanding 51-26 lead at halftime.
The Tigers saw offensive contribution from all around the lineup, as six players finished the half with 6 or more points. LSU was also efficient from three point range in the first half, shooting 5-9 from beyond the arc.
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The Tigers were able to capitalize off of the 13 forced turnovers with 19 points coming from the defensive stops. LSU thrived on the fastbreak in the first half, as the Tigers scored 18 points on the break compared to Arkansas’ zero.
Morrow and Johnson both connected on buckets to kick off the second half for the Tigers. Poa connected on her third three pointer of the game to extend the LSU lead to 30 points with 7 minutes remaining in the third quarter.
LSU continued its dominance all throughout the third quarter, as the Tigers shot 7-11 in the first 5 minutes of the quarter and out rebounded the Razorbacks 7-1. LSU’s third quarter offensive barrage was led by Johnson, who scored 7 points on 2-3 shooting and grabbed 3 rebounds in the process.
The Tigers outscored the Razorbacks 32-10 in the third quarter to take an 83-36 lead with one quarter to play. LSU held Arkansas to 4-16 shooting in the third quarter and forced 7 turnovers.
The Tiger offense was efficient yet again with a 12-21 shooting mark in the third quarter to expand on the commanding lead.
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Both Morrow and Johnson earned double-doubles in the beginning of the fourth quarter, with Morrow earning her 14th double-double of the season.
Arkansas went on an 11-1 run in the fourth quarter to attempt a comeback, but LSU’s lead proved to be too much for the Razorbacks.
The Tigers continued to produce on the offensive end to maintain a strong lead in the fourth quarter. LSU was able to steady the ship in the final quarter to play to reach the final score of 98-64.
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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas’ Izzy Higginbottom tried to drag the Razorbacks to victory over No. 6 LSU, but the Tigers’ balance was too much too handle. LSU cruised to a 98-64 win to open SEC play. The Hogs fell to 7-9 while LSU improved to 16-0 on the season.
The game happened less than 48 hours after the deadly attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. A moment of silence was paid before the game for the victims.
“You just wish you could do something,” coach Kim Mulkey said postgame. “I thought it was very classy of Arkansas to do that. There were kids from our area, Baton Rouge. I can’t quit thinking about it. It’s so close to home. It just hits you right smack in the face. You get emotional because I cannot imagine those families right now.”
The Razorbacks were limited to a one-person wrecking crew. Guard Izzy Higginbottom, who came into the night No.4 nationally in points per game at 23.8, scored 27 of the Hogs 64 points, including 16 in the first half.
Other players donning the Razorbacks uniform were held to just 31 points and 14-for-46 (30.3%) from the floor. Carly Keats was the team’s second leading scorer at just 18 points, 15 in the fourth quarter of the game where the Hogs were already down by over 40.
LSU used its plethora of talent to blitz Arkansas. The Tigers jumped out to a 16-2 lead. Four different players reached double figures.
Former Razorback Jersey Wolfenbarger just missed out with eight points. The Fort Smith native who played under Neighbors from 2021-2023, averaging just 3.9 in her final season at Arkansas.
Flau’jae Johnson, one of three LSU players on the preseason Naismith Watch List for player of the year, picked up a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Aneesah Morrow had a double-double of her own with 11 points and 10 rebounds as the Tigers outrebounded the Hogs 48-32.
Arkansas will now face another top SEC team in No. 5 Texas on the road. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday. The game will be streamed on SEC+.
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