Latest news with #Recruitment
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Four-star in-state forward JJ Andrews commits to Arkansas basketball, John Calipari
John Calipari is keeping an in-state star home with Arkansas basketball's first commitment in the class of 2026. Little Rock Christian Academy's JJ Andrews announced his pledge to the Razorbacks on Thursday at a ceremony inside the high school, choosing Arkansas over SEC rivals Missouri and LSU. Andrews is a 6-foot-6 wing who is the state's top recruit and the country's 37th-best prospect in the 247Sports Composite Rankings. Advertisement More: John Calipari announces three Arkansas basketball players will return next season More: Already in transfer portal, Boogie Fland withdraws from NBA Draft | Report Andrews is also a legacy prospect for the Razorbacks. His father, Shawn Andrews, played offensive line for Arkansas from 2001-03 and went on to have a seven-year career in the NFL. He was a two-time Pro Bowl selection and spent a bulk of those years with the Philadelphia Eagles. JJ was recently named the 2024-25 Arkansas Gatorade Player of the Year. He averaged 28.5 points, 10.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists and two blocks during his junior season, leading Little Rock Christian into the second round of the AHSAA 5A Playoffs. The Warriors fell to Benton, which went on to win the state title. Mar 22, 2025; Providence, RI, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks head coach John Calipari during the first half of a second round men's NCAA Tournament game against the St. John's Red Storm at Amica Mutual Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images According to 247Sports, JJ has a 7-foot wingspan to go along with his powerful frame. He's adept at getting downhill and finishing through traffic around the basket with the ideal combo of size and athleticism to become an elite defender. JJ needs to become more consistent with his shooting mechanics but has made strides in every year of his high school career. Advertisement JJ is the second in-state prospect to commit to Calipari since his arrival in Fayetteville. Springdale High School's Isaiah Sealy signed with the Hogs during the previous recruiting cycle and will be on the Hogs' roster for the upcoming season. Sealy was the 74th-ranked player in the country in the Class of 2025. Jackson Fuller covers Arkansas football, basketball and baseball for the Southwest Times Record, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at jfuller@ or follow him @jacksonfuller16 on X, formerly known as Twitter. This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Little Rock Christian's JJ Andrews commits to Arkansas basketball, John Calipari
Daily Maverick
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
Ashley Saul's attempt at questioning foreign staff at universities shows a lack of understanding
Tshilidzi Marwala, the former vice-chancellor of the University of Johannesburg, is now the Rector of the United Nations University (UNU) in Tokyo and a UN under-secretary-general. In August 2023, he was appointed to the United Nations Scientific Advisory Council. A global scholar in the field of artificial intelligence, Marwala is among South Africa's most distinguished academic international appointment is not only a personal honour — it is a reminder that our country has long been both a contributor to, and a beneficiary of, global academic exchange. The question now raised by some populist voices is: Should he and others like him return home to make space for natives of the countries in which they work? That, essentially, is the dangerous logic behind the latest xenophobic campaign, dressed up as concern for South African jobs in month, a Patriotic Alliance (PA) Member of Parliament, Ashley Sauls, accused universities of prioritising foreign nationals over South African academics, citing a single contested case at the Central University of Technology (CUT) and extrapolating it into an alarming generalisation. Sauls' confidence is matched only by his lack of understanding. He has taken one grievance and distorted it into a narrative that undermines both institutional integrity and our country's international standing. Struggling Let's be clear: South African universities are not flooded with foreign staff. They are struggling — still — to become truly representative of our demographics, values, and developmental priorities. But foreign nationals are not the obstacle. The real crisis lies in our failure to invest in and grow a new generation of black South African to the Ministerial Task Team (MTT) Report on the Recruitment, Retention and Progression of Black South African Academics, South Africans make up 88.4% of the academic staff in our universities. Foreign nationals — who often bring scarce expertise or participate in global research collaborations — constitute only 11.2% of the total academic importantly, many of those international academics are black Africans, whose presence in South African lecture halls should be a source of solidarity, not suspicion. The MTT report identified the real barriers to transformation: A shrinking and unequal postgraduate pipeline, especially in Stem and health sciences. Exclusionary institutional cultures that marginalise black scholars, particularly women. Poor working conditions and heavy teaching loads, leaving little room for research or advancement. Fragmented policy and funding support for initiatives like nGAP, which are critical to building black academic excellence. These are the bottlenecks. Not fellow scholars from Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Ghana or fact, many senior South African academics and vice-chancellors have benefitted from international exposure, studying or working in the US, UK, Germany, China, Brazil and across the continent. Are we now to punish those whose careers were sharpened abroad? Or suggest that they have no right to shape the institutions they now lead?It is precisely through international engagement that we sharpen our intellectual tools. South Africa collaborated with global institutions to develop and trial Covid-19 vaccines that saved millions of lives — right here, led by African scientists and researchers. That is what international collaboration looks like: not replacement, but suggest otherwise is to play directly into xenophobic populism, with dangerous consequences. The last time this rhetoric escalated, lives were lost. Shops were burned. Migrants were hunted. South Africa's reputation took a beating on the global may be right to raise a grievance about an individual hiring case at a university — but to generalise it into an anti-foreigner campaign is reckless and disingenuous. It's not transformation. It's be honest: if transformation was truly the concern, Sauls would be championing postgraduate funding, fixing NSFAS bottlenecks, defending nGAP, and holding universities accountable for succession planning. Scapegoating and political posturing Instead, what we get is easy scapegoating and political we need is not louder voices, but better ones. Let's cherish the black academics we can attract, from both South Africa and the continent, and build a system that grows more like them, with rigorous support, mentorship, and public us fix the real problems: underfunding, institutional inertia, a lack of coherence in building academic careers. But let us not turn fellow scholars into enemies. In the battle for transformation, our best allies are those who believe in justice, equity, and the power of shared knowledge. We don't build a better academy by building walls. We build it by growing our own — while learning with, and from, the world. DM
