LITTLE ROCK — Eric Musselman has been ahead of the trend in college basketball when it comes to annually re-tooling a roster, but even he after a 2-returnees-plus-11-newcomers-including-6-true-freshmen experiment a year ago has eased up on the turn-and-burn throttle a bit as he’ll have five returnees to go with nine newcomers in what looks to be a promising upcoming fifth campaign at Arkansas in 2023-24.
Following back-to-back-to-back NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 runs, which included two consecutive Elite Eight appearances in ’20-21 and ’21-22, the Hoop Hogs fanbase now has annual built-in expectations for lofty preseason rankings with the belief those will be backed up by roster quality good enough to advance the program back to the NCAAT Final Four for the first time in 29 years.
Musselman consistently imports a high volume of transfers with a sometimes-heavy / sometimes-light approach to signing high school players. Last season it was six from the high school ranks, and three of those were highly regarded 5-stars who ultimately lived up to their one-and-done statuses as 2023 NBA Draft picks.
This time around, the Head Hog targeted two players from the high school ranks who will be joined by seven transfers bringing a combined 21 years of Division 1 playing experience along with the five returnees who offer a collective 14 years of Division 1 playing experience.
It’s the most Division 1-tested roster ever assembled by Musselman at Arkansas — certainly the seven transfers are the most for him in one recruiting cycle since moving to Fayetteville — which adds intrigue to what on paper looks to be a talented, skill-diverse, balanced, and deep roster.
The five returnees from the ’22-23 team are Davonte “Devo” Davis, Trevon Brazile, Makhi Mitchell, Jalen Graham, and Joseph Pinion. The two high school signees from the class of 2023 who inked with the Hogs in November are Layden Blocker and Baye Fall. The seven transfer portal additions in the spring and summer are Keyon Menifield, Jr., Tramon Mark, Khalif Battle, Jeremiah Davenport, El Ellis, Chandler Lawson, and Denijay Harris.
With Menifield designated as a non-scholarship redshirt who will practice with the team but not compete in games in the upcoming season, it leaves the rest to fill the 13 maximum scholarships allowed with each on a course to compete in games.
As we look ahead to the ’23-24 campaign that begins in roughly three months, Hogville has identified three keys that give this group a solid foundation to build upon as it attempts to make the next deep NCAAT run at Arkansas.
Player retention is the launching pad for success
Arguably the biggest recruiting triumphs were the returns of a handful of players from last season’s NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 team, most notably all-league caliber veterans in Brazile and Davis — a duo that provides 5-star frontcourt and backcourt value.
The pair impacts both ends of the floor with production and playmaking, they’re clutch, and certainly a case can be made that each was the catalyst in the Razorbacks’ two biggest wins last season — Brazile produced 20 points, including 14 scored in a second-half comeback, to go with a team-high 9 rebounds and 2 steals in a 78-74 overtime win in the Maui Invitational third-place game over a ranked San Diego State team that would go on to finish as the NCAAT national runner-up; and Davis had 25 points, including 21 scored in a second half comeback, to go with 8 rebounds, 1 assist, and only 1 turnover in a 72-71 win over No. 1 seed and defending national champion Kansas to advance to the ’22-23 NCAAT Sweet 16.
Brazile was the first Hog from last season to proclaim he would be returning, making his announcement on Mach 30 with his obvious other options to turn pro or at minimum test the NBA Draft waters. Referred to last season as 1 of the top 5 players in the SEC by Musselman, Brazile led the team in scoring and rebounding in Arkansas’ 2022 summer exhibition tour through Europe before posting a solid stat line in regular-season non-conference play while helping the then-9th-ranked Hogs to an 8-1 record when he suffered a season-ending knee injury (followed by a surgery) in early December.
A unique talent and a matchup headache at 6-10 with 7-4 wingspan, elite athleticism, and plus-skill for a frontliner, the sophomore looked to be on a path in early December for a stellar ’22-23 season in his first campaign as a Hog that likely would have led to 2023 NBA Draft first-round projections. During his brief stint in the lineup, Brazile was the lone inside-out-versatile big man as he averaged 11.8 points, 6.0 rebounds (led the team), 1.2 blocks (led the team), 1.0 assist, and 1.0 steal in 27.1 minutes per game while shooting 48.1% from the field, including 37.9% from 3, and 67.7% from the free throw line.
Before Musselman landed a single new player out of the portal, Brazile’s pledge to return was a no-doubt 5-star recruiting win for the team.
Davis (6-4 senior guard) is one of the most accomplished Razorbacks in school history, especially when you factor in postseason individual and team accomplishments. A two-time all SEC selection — preseason second-team in ’21-22 and postseason SEC All Defensive team in ’22-23 — Davis elevated his game last season as a team leader, and he’ll look to build on his skills and development entering his fourth campaign in Fayetteville.
Splitting time as a starter and sixth man in non-conference play before holding down a starting role once league play began in ’22-23, Davis was fourth on the team in per-game scoring (10.9 points), second in assists (2.5) and steals (1.4), third in minutes (33.1), and fourth in rebounds (4.4). He had 16 multiple-steal games in ’22-23. He raised his three-point shooting volume and efficiency to career bests of 1.3 made triples per game at a respectable 34.6%, and he shot 41.5% overall from the field and 71.9% from the free throw line. He recorded two double-doubles in scoring/rebounding, and he had a third game of recording double-digit rebounds. He scored in double-figures 19 times.
In the ’22-23 NCAAT, Davis erupted for his season-high 25 points (21 scored in the second half) in a warrior-poet effort in the Hogs’ 72-71 win over No. 1 seed Kansas in the NCAAT Round of 32. Davis’ steal that led to a Council layup in the closing minutes against Illinois stood out as the play of the game in that win, and Davis’ steal and subsequent 2-of-2 free throw effort in the closing seconds iced a three-point win over Auburn in the SECT.
As the last of the five returnees to make his intentions known, Davis became the first Hog under Musselman to test the NBA draft waters only to make a U-turn back to the program for another season of college basketball. And he signifies another 5-star recruiting win to bookend the return of Brazile.
The trio of returnees in Mitchell, Graham, and Pinion blends a mix of starter value, frontcourt size, and in Pinion’s case a competent three-point shooter and floor spacer on the perimeter.
Mitchell (6-10 senior forward / center) was a regular starter and among the Hogs’ top 8-player rotation in ’22-23. He played in all 36 games (making 31 starts) and averaged 7.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.4 blocks, and 1.1 assists in 20.1 minutes while shooting 66.2% from the field and 65.2% from the free throw line. Graham (6-10 senior forward / center) — a Pac-12 second team all-conference performer in ’21-22 at Arizona State — played in 31 games last season as a Hog, averaging 5.2 points and 2.3 rebounds in 9.4 minutes while shooting 65.5% from the field and 37.1% from the free throw line. Pinion (6-5 sophomore wing) played in 26 games last season at Arkansas, averaging 2.4 points in 5.7 minutes per out while shooting 44.7% from the field, including 13-of-34 from 3 for a team-best 38.2% , and 7-of-7 at the free throw line for 100%. Pinion was instrumental in Arkansas wins over Missouri and Ole Miss at home as he came off the bench for 13 points (4-of-7 field goals, including 3-of-6 from 3, and 2-of-2 free throws) in 27 minutes against the Tigers and 13 points (5-of-10 field goals, including 3-of-6 from 3) and 5 rebounds against the Rebels.
That quintet more than doubles what the Hogs returned this time last year from the ’21-22 squad, and positionally there’s not a log-jam among that group competing with each other for playing time. Assuming Brazile and Mitchell are starters once the regular-season rolls around — both are expected to make full returns to practice in August and/or September — it means Graham could expand his role as a 4/5-frontcourt option in a likely first-big-man-off-the-bench capacity.
From this vantage point due to a combination of talent, experience, and understanding of expectations in Musselman’s system, it would seem 4 of the 5 returnees are either locks for or within reasonable reach of top 8-rotation roles in ’23-24, which may be the best indicator that player retention was the biggest victory for the program during the most-recent recruiting cycle.