Because I just thinked it up, I’m calling it the Jason Jennings Maneuver – the kinetic transfer between University of Arkansas basketball to Arkansas State basketball. Jennings was a 7′ shot blocker from Bald Knob who transferred in 1999 to Arkansas State after spending two seasons in Fayetteville (quaintly, Jennings was obliged to set out the 1999-2000 season thanks to now antiquated transfer rules).
Jennings was a monster for Arkansas State. His first season, he set a team record with 102 blocks and led the Indians in scoring (13.9 points) and rebounds (7.1). He bears the honor of having recorded the program’s first triple-double. The next season, he averaged 14.6 points and was selected in the second round of the NBA draft by the Portland Trailblazers. For reasons I assume were purely of his own, Jennings chose to play in Europe instead of the NBA, and that’s when I lose track of him.
Despite his large frame and his insatiable appetite for blocks, Jason Jennings played limited minutes at Arkansas. With Arkansas State being a rock’s toss from Bald Knob, a move to the Indians (as the program was then dubbed) was a logical one – his minutes immediately increased from 406 his sophomore season as a Razorback to 771 in his junior season as an Indian.
Twenty-five years after Jennings entered Jonesboro on a journey of purpose, so arrives 6’5″ shooting guard Joseph Pinion, scion of Morrilton High School with a knack for popping a three.
As a high school star for the Devil Dogs, Pinion was an McDonald’s All-American nominee and averaged 23.4 points and 9 rebounds during his senior year. He received offers from a wide range of blue-chop programs: Baylor, Kansas, Creighton, Oklahoma and Ole Miss. However, Pinion must of like what he saw from Eric Musselman and chose Arkansas – where the program didn’t seem to know what to do with him. As a freshman, Pinion displayed the long range touch the program coveted, but despite appear in 25 games, he play more than 10 minutes only four times all season.
Pinion’s sophomore season proved just as inconsistent. With stars like Khalif Battle and Devo Davis expected to contribute points, it was thought in the preseason that Pinion may be a more damaging asset off the bench. The knock on Pinion was that he wasn’t much of a defender; that he committed too many fouls once beaten off the dribble. Perhaps the big guard with the shooter’s touch could be used to re-ignite the offensive fuse?
For whatever reason, that role never really materialized for Pinion, who played even fewer minutes in 2023-24 than he did the year before. For reasons only known to Musselman, the head coach gave Pinion his first start ever as a Razorback for a December 22nd game against Lipscomb. Three minutes later, he was back on the bench, and he would never see a starting minute again. It appeared that Musselman was resigned to losing Pinion to the portal, and on March 15, he did just that.
Natural State Casablanca
In June of 2021, a clearly pleased Mike Balado announced that Jonesboro super-native Desi Sills would transfer from Arkansas to Arkansas State. The talented shooter had his best season as a shooter for the Hogs in 2019-20, but saw his role reduced the next season. It was a coup for Balado for several reasons. Sills was a high school legend at Jonesboro high. Sills had just competed in the Elite 8 as a Hog (reduced role notwithstanding). And he was a three-star prospect, which don’t often darken the Red Wolves’ doors.
Sills played only a season for Arkansas State, where he put up the best numbers of his career. The next year, he’d make the Final Four as a starting member of the Kansas State Wildcats. But it was as a Red Wolf that Sills had found his purpose – a tenacious defender who could be called upon the invade the paint or pop a jumper.
Two years after Sills departure, Balado was gone too, and incoming head basketball coach added another Natural State native and Arkansas malcontent to the fold – Derrian Ford, a talented 4-star guard who found himself on a team overloaded with talented guards. As a Hog, Ford never started and averaged a little less than 4 minutes a game. As a Red Wolf, Ford was able to gain the hardwood minutes required to hone talent into production. He’d average 10.4 points and 4.4 rebounds while becoming the team’s most dependable perimeter defender.
With Pinion’s arrival, the Red Wolves will have accepted into their fold three underused Razorbacks in the last four seasons (a tradition, as one might recall from the beginning of this long post, began with Jason Jennings). Jonesboro has become a kind of Casablanca – a refuge for in-state talent who felt lost in Arkansas’ endless shuffle of transfer athletes and former McDonald’s All Americans.
Whether by design or by chance, Arkansans have begun to discover prominent roles at A-State basketball. Avery Felts (Bono), Derrian Ford (Magnolia), Zane Butler (Paragould) and now Rashaud Marshall (Blytheville) and Pinion (Morrilton) are permitted to purchase Arkansas Nativ gear. Had the great Freddy Hicks Jr. opted to stay, the program would have boasted six of the state’s pride. Give us your benched, your seldom used, your dog-housed and forgotten. The Red Wolves will find minutes for you.
Photo Credit: Adidas with edit
Howlraiser 