Several years ago, I asked my brother Rex Steele if he were going to watch an upcoming Arkansas State men’s basketball game. “I wouldn’t watch the Red Wolves if they were playing in my driveway,” he declared. Bear in mind, Rex had endured years of bad Arkansas States sports and remained steadfastly loyal. But something about the decades of hardwood ineptitude had broken him. The program simply hasn’t been good in more than thirty years. At times, it has been “okay,” such as that one Grant McCasland season, or the year Arkansas State went to the NCAA. But in my lifetime, I can’t recall one Arkansas State basketball team that I felt was going to clobber the Sun Belt.

It is this long litany of misery that has contributed to the unfairness set upon today Arkansas State Red Wolves men’s basketball team. Loaded with individually talented players and led by a hard-nosed first year head coach, many fans (myself included) were ready to anoint the Red Wolves as Kings of the Sun Belt. Two lopsided exhibition games seemed to underscore what we believed true in our hearts – that this team was a relentless scoring engine that will wear opponents out before the end of the first half.

Reality has shown us something different. At 2-6, the Red Wolves are clearly still figuring out Coach Brian Hodgson’s offense, understanding their roles, and learning how to play harmonic basketball with one another. The process is painful. In their last three losses, the Red Wolves have either entered halftime ahead or down by a bucket, only to completely disintegrate in the second half. Never was this more frustrating than Friday night, when the Red Wolves entered the locker room with a 3-point halftime lead only to allow the Little Rock Trojans to go on an early 20-0 run in the second half.

“We played basketball for 20 minutes,” admitted Hodgson in his postgame presser. “We play hard for 20 minutes, then we don’t play hard for 20 minutes, regardless of the scenario.”

Opposing teams are adjusting to Arkansas State at the the half, and these Red Wolves are having a great deal of trouble adjusting to the adjustment. Additionally, they’re having trouble playing to the speed Hodgson demands. On Friday night, the Red Wolves managed just five fast break points – and just two in the second half. By contrast, the Trojans bucketed sixteen.

Negating the Red Wolves pace of play are catastrophic turnovers – Arkansas State recorded 22 on Friday night, and the Trojans made A-State pay for the mistakes with 29 points off turnovers. By the game’s closing minutes, the Red Wolves looked frustrated and befuddled, which may have had something to do with field general Caleb Fields missing the second half with an injury. Nevertheless, it was jarring to see players so unaware of their teammates’ positions; unnerving to see players miss high-percentage shots (11/19 on layups, 63% from the free throw line).

So let’s be real – perhaps for the first time this season.

• The Red Wolves are led by a first year head coach who is bearing the slings and arrows as a program frontman for the first time.
• The Red Wolves are a uniquely balanced mix of Mike Balado holdovers and transfer athletes from several corners of basketball.
• The Red Wolves aren’t entirely healthy, with LaQuill Hardnett still sidelined and Terrence Ford Jr. still hurt (and perhaps even more hurt after Little Rock).
• The Red Wolves have played a notably tough out-of-conference schedule, which only continues with a road trip to #23 Alabama on Monday.

Take a step back and accept that it will take time before this team, even with all of its individual talent, to discover who they actually are. “We haven’t had a leader step up,” admitted Hodgson. “We have to find a group of five who will do the tough things.” Perhaps we placed to high expectations on this team. Maybe that’s not fair.

In the meantime, we have to wait. It’s okay. We’ve waited decades, so what’s a few more months?

Photo Credit: Arkansas State Athletics