Arkansas: Huge Razorbacks, Little Rock Student-Athletes Could Excel

Sure, ESPN lists the Arkansas Razorbacks in the top 10, and Value Add basketball forecast their basketball team in the Final Four until Bobby Portis and Michael Quails declared for the NBA draft.

But in honor of the greatest athlete ever from the state, we also pay attention to the smaller schools, such as Scottie Pippen’s Central Arkansas (Jonathan Woodard pictured).

We ran the Value Add Sports calculations on all returning athletes in the state and emailed sports writers and other experts in the state to help rank the 25 state players to watch on a list.

The Razorbacks Alex Collins became the first SEC freshman to rush for 100 yards in his first three games (see 2013 highlights here), and averaged exactly 5.4 yards a carry in each of his first two seasons. Running behind Sebastian Tretola and the rest of the enormous line he gives Arkansas a chance to challenge Alabama and the rest of the SEC West.

The top 30 hail from a number of schools and sports:

1. Alex Collins, Arkansas, Football, RB
2. Marcus Johnson, Arkansas Little Rock, Basket, PG
3. Therese Haiss, Arkansas, Track/Field, 1,500m Run
4. Josh Hagins, Arkansas Little Rock, Basket, PG
5. Andrew Benintendi, Arkansas, Baseball,
6. Regine Williams, Arkansas, Track/Field, 400m Dash
7. Brandon Allen, Arkansas Razorbacks, Foot, QB
8. Anton Beard, Arkansas, Basket, SG
9. Andrew Benintendi, Arkansas, Baseball,
10. Justin Cooper, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Track/Field, 400m Intermediate Hu
11. Fredi Knighten, Arkansas State Red Wolves, Foot, QB
12. Jonathan Woodard, Central Arkansas, Foot, DE
13. Moses Kingsley, Arkansas, Basket, C
14. Billy Ellis, Arkansas State, Track/Field, 110m High Hurdles
15. Heather Schnars, Central Arkansas, Volleyball, Outside Hitter
16. Sebastian Tretola, Arkansas Razorbacks, Foot, OLine
17. Zach Jackson, Arkansas, Baseball, RP
18. Regan Ward, Arkansas, Track/Field, 5,000m Run
19. Jonathan Williams, Arkansas Razorbacks, Foot, RB
20. Brianna Swinton, Arkansas, Track/Field, 400m Intermediate Hu
21. Jesse Taylor, Central Arkansas, Softball, Catcher
22. JaMichael Winston, Arkansas Razorbacks, Foot, DE
23. Maggie Proffitt, Central Arkansas, Women’s basketball, G
24. Jordan Howard, Central Arkansas, Basket, G
25. Keaton McKinney, Arkansas, Baseball, SP
26. Tyler Langley, Central Arkansas, baseball, Centerfielder
27. Marqueze Washington, Arkansas, Track/Field, 200m Dash
28. Jonah Wiley, Arkansas State, Track/Field, Long Jump
29. Kaitlin Flattmann, Arkansas, Track/Field, 10,000m Run
30. Anthony Livingston, Arkansas St., Basket, C and Tevin Hammond, Arkansas Pine Bluff, Basket, PG