Extreme youth the new normal for both UALR and Tulsa

BURN THE HORSE

When UALR meets Tulsa at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Jack Stephens Center, it will match two of the youngest teams in NCAA Division I basketball.
 

Tulsa at UALR

2 p.m. Saturday
Jack Stephens Center

In its last game, Tulsa started three freshmen and bringing another off the bench. UALR is starting two freshmen and bringing two off the bench. It’s what would keep most coaches up at night.

But both UALR (7-4) and Tulsa (6-3) are off to good starts to the season. That speaks more about the talent of these freshmen rather than their age.
 

Basketball web site StatSheet.com rates UALR as the youngest team in Division I basketball. That not only takes into account freshmen John Gillon, James White, Josh Hagins and Stetson Billings, but sophomores Ben Dillard, Michael Javes and Taggart Lockhart. After he gets more minutes, sophomore Gus Leeper will also figure into that equation. Additionally, UALR doesn’t have a senior in its rotation.
 

Tulsa, which StatSheet rates the 35^th youngest team in Division I, is starting freshmen guards Shaquille Harrison and James Woodard and freshman forward D’Andre Wright while freshman forward Zeldric King comes off the bench. Sophomore forward Rashad Ray also comes off the bench and adds to the youth of the Golden Hurricane.
 

“We put our freshmen guards out there, and they play hard and we trust them to run our team and do a good job,” said first-year Tulsa Coach Danny Manning.