Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

12/15/2011 at 3:02pm

It's OK to stop talking football for just a minute, right? There's some awfully good basketball on tap for Central Arkansas this weekend.

Not even the state basketball tournaments in March can boast of the talent and stellar matchups like we'll see in one day in Saturday's second Arkansas Hoops Challenge. The venue switches for version 2.0 to the brand-spanking-new Maumelle High School gymnasium, and college signees Archie Goodwin (Kentucky bound) and Dusty Hannahs (Texas Tech) will be among the competitors. Fans will also get a good look at what are likely the state's top two teams in Little Rock Parkview and Jonesboro.

Then there are the early advanced looks offered of Arkansas Razorback commitments Bobby Portis of Little Rock Hall and Dederick Lee of Clarksville, plus the highly sought, uncommitted sophomore Trey Thompson of Forrest City.

Little Rock Parkview and Jonesboro aren't paired against each other Saturday — they'll meet twice in Class 6A-East play and probably in 6A championship game if all goes as expected — but they'll be on display, one after the other, on Saturday at Maumelle. Jonesboro is matched against traditional 7A-West power Fayetteville at 4:20, followed by Parkview's 5:40 game with Little Rock Mills.

I.J. Ready, Parkview's 5-9 junior point guard, has committed to play for Doc Sadler and the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

Jonesboro is led by 5-10 sophomore point guard Kahron Ross. Fayetteville should give Jonesboro plenty of trouble inside behind 6-10, 245-pound junior Tyler McCullough.

The 6-foot-9 junior Portis and Little Rock Hall face off with the 6-9 sophomore Thompson and Forrest City at 7 p.m. Florida and Arkansas have both already offered Thompson.

Wrapping up the day's action is an expected shootout by Hannahs and Pulaski Academy against Goodwin and Sylvan Hills at 8:20 p.m.

In other action:

Shiloh Christian and Strong tip off the action at 11 a.m. Shiloh's Darian Harris, a 6-4 shooting guard, is drawing college interest from throughout the region, while Strong is led by 6-5 Stetson Billings, who is being sought by Louisiana Tech and others.

East Poinsett County, which won Class 2A last year behind current Razorback Ky Madden, is back with Hog football commitment and stellar athlete A.J. Turner against Siloam Springs at 12:20 p.m. Another EPC star to watch is junior guard Jammar Sturdivant. Meanwhile Siloam Springs has highly sought 6-8 junior Payton Henson, who holds offers from Arkansas State and Missouri State and has drawn interest from several other mid-majors as well as Nebraska and Ole Miss.

Benton and Springdale are matched at 1:40 p.m. Benton features one of the state's better big men in 6-9 Graham Garner.

Clarksville guard Lee and his Panthers are slated to play Jacksonville at 3 p.m. Lee is joined by his sophomore twin brothers Kendrick Lee and Freddie Lee as they seek a repeat of last year's 4A state title. Jacksonville is led by junior guard Justin McCleary.

An entire day's worth of basketball can be had for $10 for adults and $5 for students. Arvest Bank is the chief sponsor of the event, organized by Ron Crawford, a leading supporter of amateur basketball in the area and head of the AAU Arkansas Wings organization.

LEE BACK HOME: It was good to see Philadelphia Phillies star pitcher Cliff Lee and his wife home earlier this month. They attended a holiday party fund-raiser in the Quapaw Quarter for Little Rock's Junior Deputy Baseball organization. The Lees were among the lead sponsors of the event, which is the significant money raiser for the organization outside of registration fees.

Junior Deputy, which long ago received support from the Pulaski County Sheriffs but no longer receives any outside funding or any money from the city, makes due with sponsorships from avid supporters/advertisers and parents of the organization. JD gives more than 1,000 boys in Little Rock an opportunity to play baseball during spring and fall every year.

The Lees, who bought a house last year near Prospect Terrace, have a son, Jaxon, who is in the Cal Ripken League, the organization for ages 9-12. Last year, Jaxon Lee's team was the Braves. However, this year Jaxon Lee will look a lot like dad when he's on the pitcher's mound. The Braves team has become the Phillies.

Email: jharris@abpg.com or follow Jim on Twitter @jimharris

Tagged: Dederick Lee, Bobby Portis, Dusty Hannahs, Archie Goodwin, Arkansas Hoops Challenge, Junior Deputy Baseball, Cliff Lee, I.J. Ready