Arkansans will learn a bit more about their new head coach at the conclusion of the upcoming season, his first complete season with the program. Former All-Conference 19 guard Colin Wilson was handed the reigns halfway through last season. He received some criticism for simply holding the line on the program’s recruiting efforts to that point instead of seeking out his own talent to bolster the possibilities.

He was rewarded with landing talented 6’10” Bradley Widener. The maintaining of that relationship and bringing Widener in under a competitive situation bought Wilson some time. But now he will have to perform again when he has to build that pipeline from scratch, which is a horse of a different color.

Scouts have noted that there is a lot of senior high school talent in the home region of Hot Springs and that being involved in and winning the recruiting battles for those players will decide a lot about the fortunes of programs in the region for the next four years.

Wilson showed that he understands the assignment by early announcing intent to recruit three local players, two of whom play not just in the Bathers’ region, but their home conference, giving them a bit more leg up on bringing them to campus.

Those two players are James Gibbon and Nicholas Walton.

Gibbon has been on the minds of scouts for a few years already and his time to ascend to college is finally here and Wilson is looking to land that big one right out of the gate. It is believed that Gibbon is willing to play for programs who can guarantee him immediate playing time, and that being a foundational player in a program on the rise is attractive to him. Is the hire of Wilson something that would make Gibbon think this program, which has never won its conference, will be able to take that kind of step with him?

Walton is a wing type who has shown some real scoring touch so far in his senior season. Hot Springs believes the offense is real and he’s shown high-level skill. They also think there is room for him to excel in other areas of the game and project him to develop into an impact player.

The in-region but not in-conference recruit the team has already announced interest in is 7′ center prospect Andres Renfro, who figures to be one of the most sought after recruits in the nation. He is a defensive black hole for opponents. Word is he would more likely prefer to stay close to home, so Hot Spings is putting its hat in the ring, probably along with every other program who thinks it has any shot.

The team has plans to file one other player as a key recruit per their allotment of visits and other perks, and are said to be looking for a player there who will be the one to commit to them, and for it to be a forward. There is a lot of interest in using that spot on another local player in Talon McQueen of Ames. But a lot of the interest in the 6’8″ forward has been simply because his name is Talon McQueen, which is an awesome name. He’s shown some ability in the early part of his high school season, but the team wants to see a little more in the couple more games before these recruits must be filed.