"So I come in and, he said, 'Dad, I'm going to the University of Arkansas.' And I was happy for him. But he thought that's what I wanted — for me. And I turned around and go back to bed. He said, 'Oh, you're not happy, Dad?' I said, 'Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. It's not for me. This is not for me, son — because I done went to college. I got my degree. It's you. You're the one who's got to go to school. He said, 'But Dad, this is what I want.' I said, 'I'm happy for you, son.'"

· · · · ·

Still, doubt lingered as Brewer and kin walked into a gymnasium to make public young Ronnie's biggest-ever decision.

Media members from throughout Arkansas and parts beyond packed the floor as the Brewers sat in front of the microphones.

"Ronnie's high school coach said, 'Look, we need to get an alternate plan to get you guys out of here if you don't say the right thing,'" Ron Brewer said. "I thought he was joking."

No joke.

"He said, 'Because these people are Razorback fanatics,'" Ron added, " 'and if you say Oklahoma we've got find a way to get you out of the gym.'"

Now that's pressure.

"I was on one side of him, my wife was on the other side," Ron said. "He had an Oklahoma hat, an Arkansas hat.

"He said, 'I want to thank you for coming out, but right now, I've come to my decision.' And everybody thought he was going ... to Oklahoma because he went to grab the Oklahoma hat."

Hah, hah ... huh?

No Sooner, Ronnie made known his true intention.

Sooey, pig pig pig.

"It wasn't necessarily because (Ron) went there. Early in the process, I was not gonna go to Arkansas," Ronnie said, serious as can be. "But it was just the right situation for me."

Ronnie took all the time he needed to come to the conclusion, a process that — as another life-altering decision would confirm — seems to be his way.

Before having to make the next huge call, though, Ron's legacy would hover overhead a while longer.

"I was on the top of my game as a senior in college," Ron said. "They're telling a little freshman, 'Are you gonna be as good?' I said, 'C'mon, guys, be fair. He just got in here.' I said, 'Ask him by the time he's a junior.'"

· · · · ·

It's that aforementioned freshman year at Arkansas, and the Hawgs aren't doing so hot.

"Our spirits were kind of down," Ronnie said, "and our coach (Stan Heath) said, 'You've got to have pride wearing that jersey.' He had me stand up and tell everybody why I had pride being a Razorback.