State sports briefs - Shijiazhuang Pajamas Group

BASKETBALL

Hogs to play Stanford in the Bahamas

The University of Arkansas men's team's first of three games at the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas is set.

The Razorbacks are scheduled to play Stanford on Nov. 22, it was announced Wednesday. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. Central, and the game will be televised on ESPNU.

Arkansas will play either Memphis or Michigan the following day. The Razorbacks' final game at the event will be against North Carolina, Villanova, Texas Tech or Northern Iowa.

Arkansas and Stanford will play for the first time since the third-place game of the NIT Tip-Off in Brooklyn in November 2015. The Razorbacks lost 69-66.

The programs' only other meeting came in January 1948, when the Cardinal won 60-53 at San Francisco.

Stanford finished last season 14-19 overall and 7-13 in Pac-12 play. The Cardinal have not made the NCAA Tournament since 2014.

Jerod Haase, a long-time assistant to Roy Williams at Kansas and North Carolina, is entering his eighth season as the program's head coach.

Stanford is expected to return three of its top four scorers from last season. Spencer Jones, a 6-7 forward, led the team in scoring (14.1 points per game), blocks (29), steals (37) and three-pointers made (72).

Michael Jones and Brandon Angel are also back after averaging 9.5 points per game apiece. Jones made 47 threes, and Angel started 31 of 33 games.

Stanford also added Jared Bynum (Providence) from the NCAA transfer portal.

There are 10 known opponents and 12 known dates on Arkansas' upcoming nonconference schedule, which is highlighted by a game against Duke at Walton Arena in Fayetteville on Nov. 29 as part of the ACC/SEC Challenge.

The season and home opener is set for Nov. 6 against Alcorn State.

The Razorbacks are also scheduled to play a charity exhibition game against Purdue on Oct. 28 in Fayetteville, and face Oklahoma on Dec. 9 in Tulsa.

Basketball staffers hired

University of Arkansas men's Coach Eric Musselman announced Wednesday that Tommy Abdenour has been hired as a special assistant to the head coach and Ryan Witthoff as coordinator of creative content,.

Abdenour comes to Arkansas from Lindenwood College in St. Louis, where he was an assistant coach the past four seasons. He also worked in the G-League with Santa Cruz (Calif.) and Rapid City (S.D.)

Witthoff will be in charge of overseeing and producing content for the men's basketball social media platforms. He was creative content manager at Florida State men's basketball program for four seasons.

FOOTBALL

Parkview lineman commits to Arkansas State

Little Rock Parkview senior Alex Martin announced his commitment to Arkansas State University on Wednesday via social media.

The 6-3, 288-pound defensive lineman starred on the Patriots' state championship team in 2022, totalling 39 tackles, 7 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 2 forced fumbles and 1 fumble recovery.

Martin is the third in-state commitment and 12th overall to Coach Butch Jones' 2024 class. He chose the Red Wolves over scholarship offers from Kansas State, Cincinnati, Memphis and others.

BASEBALL

Paragould moves on in regional

Hayden Nazarenus went 2 for 3 with a home run to power Paragould Glen Sain GMC to a 3-0 victory over Washington, Mo., in the first round of the American Legion Baseball Mid-South Regional tournament Wednesday at Bobby Hayes Stadium in Pelham, Ala.

Kayson Becker and Larry Fikes also drove in runs for Paragould, which also got a strong outing from pitcher Ashton Williams to advance. Williams allowed 3 hits and struck out 2 in 5 2/3 innings to pick up the win. Peyton Branum got the save.

Sam Paule had two hits for Washington. Paragould will face the winner of Wednesday’s late game between the Pittsburg, Kan., and Shelby City, Ala., today at 7 p.m. Washington will take on the loser at 1 p.m. in an elimination game.

— Erick Taylor

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