What Arkansas assistant coach Kenny Payne said about Jonas Aidoo's return vs. No. 1 Tennessee

What Arkansas associate head coach Kenny Payne said Thursday while previewing the 23rd-ranked Razorbacks opening SEC play at No. 1 Tennessee on Saturday afternoon, marking the return of Jonas Aidoo to Knoxville:

What stands out while scouting Tennessee

“First thing is their physicality, one of the toughest teams in the country. But it’s also one of the best offensive teams in the country. They run their stuff hard. They take good shots. They got good scoring. They got great rebounding, great length, and they got a floor general on the floor that controls the game. Very good team. You can see why they’re number one in the country.”

How much Tennessee transfer Jonas Aidoo can help Arkansas in its preparation for the Vols

“Well, the great thing about this team and Coach Cal is that him and Coach Barnes have been friends for quite some time, and very familiar with each other. So it’s not like there’s no familiarity with who Tennessee is, what type of coach they have. Jonas just brings an added plus because he’s coming from that program, and he knows it, you know, to a strong extent. Maybe a little better than we do, but we know how the game is going to be played. We know how good they are. We know what they’re brining to the table.”

Aidoo being limited due to illness against Oakland on Monday

“He’s getting better each day. You know, curious to see — we hadn’t practiced yet today — but curious to see how he feels today and what he brings to the table and practicing. We need him. We need him 100%. We need his physicality. We need his scoring around the basket. We need his defensive presence. So we’re hoping that he’s feeling better and better, and he can come out and help us fight for a win.”

If there is added motivation for Aidoo going against his former team

“No question, that’s natural. He’s done a lot of great things at Tennessee and he’s going back home. And I’m sure that there’s emotions involved. I’m sure that the team is going to want to go at him some. I’m curious to see how he handles it, and go from there from it. But he’s a vet. He’s been in college four years — three or four years, whatever — and he’s going to come out, and that’s why you get veteran guys on your team to handle these type of situations.”

Recruiting Aidoo out of the portal, the areas they felt like he needed to improve in and how he has progressed

“The first thing is just playing more around the court. Not just being around the basket. Being comfortable playing on the court, being comfortable shooting jump shots from elbows and occasional threes. Being able to be great in dribble hand-off situations and diving hard. You know, Jonas has had a hard time because he’s had injuries, and so some of that has negated his development in those areas, but we’re getting him healthy now. He’s better now, and you know, he’s a very, very vital piece to what we do and any success that we have as a team. He’s going to be a major piece to that.”

How they as coaches makes sure Aidoo doesn’t get too emotional and hyped up for this game

“I go back to this. He’s been in college three or four years. He’s seen a lot of different situations. He knows that he can’t be overhyped. He knows that it’s going to be a physical brand of basketball. He knows that we need him on the court and he can’t get in foul trouble, so he will have to, in some regards, be disciplined about how he plays, smart about how he plays, but also aggressive about how he plays at the same time.”