column by DUDLEY E. DAWSON

BATON ROUGE, La. -- To say that University of Arkansas basketball signee J.J. Sullinger is having a nice season would be a major understatement.
Sullinger, a 6-foot-5, 190-pound guard from Thomas Worthington High School just outside of Columbus, Ohio, is stuffing the stat sheet his senior campaign.
Sullinger is averaging 22.8 points, 7.9 rebounds and 6.3 assists this season while shooting 63 percent from the field, over 90 percent from the free throw line and 45 percent from 3-point range.
"Tell the Arkansas fans that what they have here is one of the young men who is being touted as the favorite for Mr. Basketball in Ohio, that they may get the best basketball player in Ohio," notes Satch Sullinger, J.J.'s dad. "We are so proud of the season he and his team are having."
Worthington leads the Cardinal Division of the Ohio Capitol Conference by a full two games over Dublin Scioto and Upper Arlington.
"Our team is really coming together and getting better every day," J.J. Sullinger said. "Our keys to success this season are that we have been out rebounding every team we play, we are shooting the ball exceptionally well and, while our defense doesn't get a lot of publicity because everybody likes to talk about the ball going in the hole, it has been solid."
Sullinger, a Nike All-American who signed with Arkansas in November after committing in late September, is not as surprised with his team's success as one might think.
Sullinger has not had the opportunity to watch his future college team play on television this season, but has kept up with the Razorbacks, who have not had a game televised in Ohio yet this season.
"I haven't been able to catch them, but I have kept up on (ESPN's) SportsCenter and have been just wishing them luck and looking forward to being there next year," J.J. Sullinger said. "But right now I am concentrating on this year and becoming the best basketball player I can be."

Arkansas head coach Nolan Richardson and assistant Brad Dunn took in a Wednesday afternoon game featuring Emeka Okafor, the 6-9, 230-pound power forward from Bellaire High School in Houston.
Okafor responded with 30 points, 19 rebounds, 6 blocks and 4 assists in his team's 99-98 win over Madison.
"They seem to play their best games against us, but we responded and Emeka had a big tip there at the end to win it for us," Bellaire head coach Dave Hudek said.
Okafor visited Vanderbilt, Rice and Georgia Tech in the early signing period and is being pursued by Arkansas, Stanford, UConn, Kansas and Kentucky now.
"He is very interested in Arkansas and I am doing my best to dig him up everything he needs to know about what a great program Arkansas has and what a great guy Coach Richardson is," Hudek said. "It is a quality place and I want him to know that."
Hudek shot down the Internet rumor that Okafor's Vanderbilt future is tied to that of 7-0 David Harrison of Nashville.
"The thing I have told Emeka is 'don't be in a hurry, there are a lot of good places to go.' He doesn't have to hurry. We are just going to finish our year," Hudek said.
Bellaire had Friday night off, but was slated to play Westbury Saturday night.

Ousmane Cisse, regarded as one of the nation's consensus top five players and a player that Razorbacks have been actively recruiting, may be done for the season.
Cisse, a 6-10, 245-pound power forward/center from St. Jude Institute of Education in Montgomery, Ala., has missed the last five games with a knee injury.
He has not even been on the bench leading to speculation that his season may be over. Don Jackson, Cisse's guardian, gave an update on the player in an interview in Saturday's Montgomery Advertiser.

Three other players that Arkansas has shown interest in are 6-8, 240-pound Clarksville power forward Gavin Ludgood, 6-5 guard Chad Wise of Lonoke and 5-10 point guard Clyde Wade of Memphis Kingsbury.
Wade is ranked as the third best senior prospect in Memphis this season by Mid-South Hoops behind Alabama signee Ernest Shelton and scoring machine Tauren Moy.
Arkansas, St. Louis, Mississippi State and Arkansas State are the schools showing interest in Wade lately.

Tidbits:
... Former Arkansas point guard Kareem Reid poured in 40 points and had 8 assists in a game earlier this week for the Richmond Rhythm of the IBL.
... Former Razorback Derek Hood had an 18-point, 17-rebound outing for the Kansas City Knights of ABA2000 and is second in the league in rebounding with 9.6 per game.
... Other UA alums playing in the ABA2000 are Corey Beck, who is fourth in the league in assists at 5.4 a game for the Memphis Houn'Dawgs, and Antwan Hall, who has joined the Chicago Skyliners and is averaging 5.3 points per game.
... Elmer Martin, another former Razorback, is expected to be part of the Harlem Globetrotters team that will perform at Barnhill Arena on Feb. 3.
... Nick Davis, who won an SEC rebounding title while at Arkansas, leads the Japanese basketball league in rebounding (14.6) and blocked shots (2.2) while playing for the Denso Hoop Gang.
... Daily updates on former Razorbacks now playing basketball professionally can be found at www.geocities.com/minorshogs/basketball.html.

This article was published Jan. 28, 2001

SUNDAY BASKETBALL NOTES COLUMN BY DUDLEY E. DAWSON
The University of Arkansas basketball program signed one young man in November, a Nike All-American who has turned out to be even better than imagined.
Now the Razorback staff hopes to add another talented prepster that all the experts agree is a can't-miss star on the collegiate level.
That's Emeka Okafor, a 6-foot-9, 240-pound Houston-area power forward and consensus top 100 player nationally, who had a home visit from UA assistant Brad Dunn on Monday and who will begin his official visit to Fayetteville today.
"I have learned a lot about Arkansas recently and I am very interested in getting there and finding out even more about the school and the program," Okafor said. " They have been very up front with me and I really like Coach Dunn. I think it might be a place that I could really be happy going to school and playing basketball."
The Razorbacks signed 6-5 guard J.J. Sullinger, a Columbus, Ohio, prep standout who was just named that state's co-player of the week this week by the Associated Press.
He averaged 21.4 points, 7.5 rebounds, 6.0 assists, 2.1 blocks and 1.8 steals per game for Thomas Worthington High School this season, and has shared player of the year honors with 6-7 forward Matt Sylvester of Cincinnati Moeller, an Ohio State signee.
Those selections were made based upon recommendations of a statewide panel of sportswriters and broadcasters.
He did all this while playing everything from point guard to small forward for a division-title winning squad that ended the season 20-4.
"We've got us a gem there," Razorback head coach Nolan Richardson said. "He is so versatile. It's not that he does any one thing great, but is very good at every facet of the game."
Arkansas' basketball team, which loses only one senior off a 20-11 squad this season, will get a facelift with the addition of Sullinger, 6-10 redshirt freshman forward Mike Jones and 6-3 redshirt walk on guard Jamar Blackmon, who transferred from Mississippi Valley State.
Because all three of those players -- including the currently 202-pound Jones -- are perimeter players where Arkansas is stocked, there is little doubt that Okafor would be the recruit that makes the most impact.
He ended up averaging 22 points, 14.9 rebounds and 5.8 blocks for Bellaire High School this season, after a torrid early season that saw him averaging 23 points, 22 rebounds and 10 blocks a game at one point.
"He is for real, a tremendous basketball player and a very intelligent young man with a great head on his shoulders," Bellaire head coach Dave Hudek said earlier. "I am so glad Arkansas came into the picture because I have always really admired Coach Richardson, the Arkansas program and the way he has handled himself through the good times and the bad times. ... If Emeka ends up there I think it would be very beneficial for both of them."
Okafor might be as big a catch for UA Chancellor John White as he would for the basketball coach, because he is such an excellent student. He has a 4.4 grade point average on a 4.0 scale and posted a 1300 on his SAT test while attending a high school that is ranked in the top 10 nationally academically.
"I am very proud of my academic success," Okafor said. "My education is very important to me."
Okafor took visits to education stalwarts Vanderbilt, Georgia Tech and Rice during the fall, but decided to wait until the spring before signing with anyone.
He has drawn interest from Arkansas, Stanford, Kansas, Ohio State, UConn, North Carolina State and Temple.
"He was worried that there wouldn't be enough interest in him if he didn't sign early," Hudek said. "That's hasn't been a problem."
Okafor has also become a target for new Texas Tech head coach Bobby Knight, the former Indiana legend who was hired as the Red Raiders' new basketball boss Friday.
Knight is scheduled to make a home visit to Okafor on April 6 after Arkansas, North Carolina State, Ohio State and UConn all made trek to Okafor's abode this week.
Although Okafor has downplayed his interest in Texas Tech to Arkansas reporters, he did tell the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal this week that he will consider the school seriously.
"Bob Knight established a great basketball tradition at Indiana, and you can't help but turn your head when you hear his name," Okafor told the paper. "He has proven over the years that he's a great coach, and playing for him is something I have to think about seriously.
"... I'm interested in the whole package that Texas Tech could offer," Okafor continued. "They've had a winning reputation in the past, and when you add coach Knight to that it tells me that it is a program that is ready to be at the top again."
But he also knows that Arkansas is a program that has been to 12 of the last 13 NCAA Tournaments and that Razorback coach Nolan Richardson has a national title and three Final Fours on his resume.
"Arkansas is a great school with a lot of tradition and a great coaching staff," Okafor said. "That's a couple of the reasons they are at the top of my list."
Arkansas hopes Okafor will feel the same way as Sullinger did after his official visit back in September.
"Before I visited any place, the main question I asked myself was, 'If basketball was taken away from me for any reason, would I still want to go to school there?' The answer was definitely yes," Sullinger said. "I felt so at home there."

... Former Arkansas standout Derek Hood, the leading rebounder in ABA2000, has left the league and signed a "lucrative deal" with Italian A-I league team Snaidero Udine according to the MinorHogs website.
... Corey Beck, another former Razorback and ABA2000 player, has joined former high school and college teammate Dwight Stewart in Venezuela on Toros de Argua.
Stewart, who was 6-9, 260 when he played for Arkansas, leads the league in scoring with a 21.3 average and also tops the league in 3-point shooting at 53.8 percent.
... Nick Davis leads the Japanese league in rebounding (15.36 per game) and blocked shots (2.36) while also tossing in 16.23 points for the Denso Hoop Gang.

March 25, 2001