FAYETTEVILLE — With Arkansas set to face Duke on Thanksgiving night in its first game ever inside Chicago’s fabled United Center, it’s only natural to think about some great Razorback basketball players from the Windy City.
Similar to nearby Memphis, Chicago has traditionally instilled an hard-nosed edge in its native basketball players. On the Duke side, the metro area has given rise to current head coach Jon Scheyer as well as former Blue Devil greats like Jabari Parker and Jahlil Okafor, the only “native” Arkansan to ever play for the Blue Devils:
On the Arkansas basketball side, standouts Darrell Walker (1981-83), Tony Brown* (1978-82), Byron Irvin (1984-86), Jannero Pargo (2000-02) and Patrick Beverley (2006-08) all went from Chicago playgrounds and gymnasiums to Arkansas to the NBA.