There’s no better time to show a sense of charity than on Christmas Day, which means it’s only appropriate to pay a little attention to the Arkansas State basketball program, which stands at 9-4 in its first season under new head coach Ryan Pannone.
The 40-year-old has carried over the high-octane, three-happy offensive system he helped blossom under Nate Oats at Alabama, just a season after another Oats acolyte – Bryan Hodgson – had the squad humming last season. Former Razorback Joseph Pinion was the prime recipient of that mess of threes that Oats and his ilk have made famous: The sharpshooter had a team-high 85 threes in 2024 with automatic 36/43/88 shooting splits.