FAYETTEVILLE (KFSM) - It might not have been the season many Hog fans were hoping for from the Arkansas men's basketball team, and coach Mike Anderson said Monday it was a year all about question marks.
"We lost quite a bit form the previous team with guys going to the NBA, guys declaring, guys that are graduating," Anderson said.
Without star players Bobby Portis and Michael Qualls from the year before, and other players facing legal issues before the season started, there was a lot of uncertainly surrounding the Razorbacks. The Hogs started out the season missing those who scored 72 percent of their points each game.
"With that adversity I always talk about it's how you deal with that adversity. Well to me we'll showcase what our program is all about," Anderson said.
But this average season is not what this program is about.
"The standards of Arkansas are tremendously high, and I understand that. So to me with a 16-16 season, I'm not satisfied with that," Anderson said.
The 2015-2016 season was mostly a year of learning.
"We had some guys that had to develop in order for us to be competitive. I thought we were. I mean very much so," Anderson said.
But, Anderson is confident a lot of those preseason questions will be answered this time around with the addition of new faces to the roster to help fill in gaps.
"I just like the athletic ability that's coming in to go along with this group as well as the guys, the way they play. They're players, too," Anderson said.
So, what's in store for this team? The answer was plain and simple from Anderson today. He expects his team to be back in the NCAA tournament once again next year.