Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

When it comes to academics at the University of Arkansas, nothing beats receiving a Bodenhamer Fellowship. Only six of the prestigious academic awards will be given to incoming freshmen this fall and only 91 have been handed out since 1998.

Why should this be of interest to you?

This year’s incoming Bodenhamer Fellows includes basketball walk-on Kikko Haydar. The former Fayetteville High standout, whose parents are professors at the UA, committed to walking on the basketball team in the spring and was officially announced as part of the team on Thursday.

Haydar, a 5-10 point guard, said he is looking forward to the opportunity of playing with the Razorbacks. Coach John Pelphrey, who scouted several of Haydar’s games, invited Haydar to walk on with Arkansas.

“We are very excited to have Kikko join the team,” Pelphrey said in a statement. “He will give us added depth at the point and has tremendous potential. He is a very good athlete who is smart and can create things offensively.”

It's a smart addition.

Haydar isn’t the first UA athlete to be such a high achiever academically. Former UA tennis star Blake Strode was a Bodenhamer Fellow and upon completing his professional tennis career has aspirations of attending Harvard Law.

That’s the sort of company Haydar will be keeping in the classroom.

Here’s a little more from the UA on exactly what being a Bodenhamer Fellow means, if you’re not quite convinced it’s a big deal:

Each fellow will receive up to $50,000 for four years of study. In addition to covering the normal costs of attending the university, Bodenhamer Fellowships make it possible for students to study abroad, attend professional and educational conferences, and conduct academic research under faculty supervision.

To be considered, students must score at least 32 on the ACT and have a grade point average of 3.8 and must present essays about their academic and community interests along with letters of recommendation. A committee of University of Arkansas professors interviews finalists and selects the Fellows.

All well and good, right? What exactly does Haydar bring to the table in basketball?