Eric Musselman has another revamped Arkansas roster. It’s also his most talented one

There’s an outdated story about Eric Musselman, one Chicago radio host Dan Berstein advised me on the air final season. In his early days in radio, Bernstein used to cowl the Continental Basketball Affiliation, the place Musselman made his teaching bonafides, and the place Bernstein shortly discovered to test the roster each time he checked in on Musselman’s workforce. Odds had been the coach, an inveterate tinkerer, had spent the time between video games dropping the utmost variety of gamers from the roster and signing up one other handful extra. It saved broadcasters on their toes.

Muss obsessively cycled by way of guys, was the purpose, and so it was no shock to see the Arkansas coach grow to be the early switch portal king of the immediate-eligibility period. Neglect slow-roasting your roster for 4 seasons. Go discover the very best gamers you can get each spring, carry them collectively, after which, like a dad taking part in Factorio, spend just a few months joyfully puzzling and tweaking and rewiring, optimizing the beforehand disparate elements. It was a course of not completely not like churning these CBA journeymen rosters of yore. To Musselman, that is enjoyable.

Most significantly, it has labored. Because of his facility for a fast turnaround, once-dormant Arkansas males’s hoops could be very a lot again, the Muss Bus rounding into 12 months 4 with back-to-back Elite Eight appearances and consecutive top-four NCAA Event seeds within the speedy rear view. The fourth season of Musselman’s tenure has an opportunity to boost the extent but once more, each when it comes to expertise and in sheer “let’s determine what we’ve obtained right here” unfamiliarity. There are, rely ’em, 11 new gamers in Fayetteville, not simply one other proficient haul of switch veterans but additionally, in a enjoyable new twist, six prime 100 freshmen, together with three McDonald’s All-People.

The Razorbacks positive appear loaded, however it can take a while, possibly much more time than ordinary, for Musselman and his employees to determine precisely what they’ve obtained and the way it all suits collectively. (Keep in mind: Earlier than the 2021-22 Razorbacks went 18-4 to complete the 12 months, they misplaced 5 of six in December and early January, together with to a 22-point loss to Oklahoma and a quasi-home defeat to Hofstra.) That course of started in earnest in scrimmages and talent work periods this summer time, and from that work the stats-inclined employees gained vital insights. “The most important factor that stands out is the scale, size and flexibility is pretty much as good as Coach has ever had,” assistant coach Gus Argenal stated. “Like, we’re actually massive. The most important factor we speak about in conferences proper now’s who works greatest with who — and who is able to produce, and who’s undecided.”

The roster is a jumble, little doubt, however in a great way. If — OK, when — Musselman hones it, it can look as harmful as any within the nation.

Nick Smith Jr., guard, freshman

Make no mistake: That hazard begins with Nick Smith. Smith arrives as heralded as mainly any Arkansas participant ever, not simply because he may be the very best man in his total incoming class but additionally as a result of he’s an area star, first of Sylvan Hills Excessive College in Sherwood after which, as a senior, the place he led the workforce to a 26-3 file and a Class 6A state championship, at North Little Rock. (Felt obliged to get the Sylvan Hills shout-out in there. As a local of Davenport, Iowa, it all the time stung that Ricky Davis listed his hometown as Las Vegas. You performed 4 years at Davenport North, Ricky! Barely totally different state of affairs right here however nonetheless, shout out Sylvan Hills.) There’s a particular sauce when a hometown (and even home-state) child this good indicators on to an area program on the rise. Rabid followers love anybody who involves play laborious for this system, positive, however they love their very own much more. The vibe is sensational. The chances really feel limitless.

In Smith’s case, they need to. There’s little or no on the ground he can’t do. Arkansas has him listed at 6-foot-5, and even at that dimension Smith will play like an attacking, scoring level guard, with the ball always in his arms. He was the plain star of Arkansas’s win over Valencia Seleccion throughout their European exhibition tour on Tuesday, with 17 factors, six assists and 4 rebounds, which is strictly the sort of do-it-all traces Arkansas’s employees is anticipating out of Smith pretty repeatedly.

Smith had three 3s in that recreation, which is one thing to observe with him: Can he present high-level perimeter scoring, too? Can he genuinely stretch defenses? That is an space Arkansas struggled with final season, and infrequently relied on (theoretically) low-percentage J.D. Notae rainmakers, usually on the dribble. Arkansas, as a gaggle, shot 30.4 % from 3 final season. (Arkansas usually, and Notae particularly, made up for that on the margins, significantly by attending to and changing from the free-throw line.) The hope — and right here’s the place you actually get the high-level evaluation — is that this group will shoot the three higher. Smith is the main candidate on that entrance. “, he really began sluggish scoring, and along with his percentages, in stay play,” Argenal stated. “Now he’s simply sort of molded into who he actually is, which is a man making unorthodox pictures, taking part in out of the pick-and-roll, and pulling down 3s. He’s simply sort of what you count on him to be.”

Which, contemplating the place Smith-related expectations are proper about now, is saying one thing. He looks as if he’s going to be good.

Anthony Black, freshman, guard

One of many extra attention-grabbing roster-related subplots is who will play alongside Smith, who’s beginning and taking part in lots. That a lot we all know. However his backcourt accomplice? Or companions, plural? That a lot stays up for some debate. Black is a big candidate. A fellow McDonald’s All-American, Smith is a 6-foot-7 level guard ranked second on the place nationally (to Smith, after all) within the class of 2022. Smith has intrigued scouts for years, because it turned clear that he was eschewing conventional wing play and actually specializing in changing into some extent guard, which he roughly completed: At excessive ranges of highschool basketball, he dealt with the ball, performed in pick-and-roll, and developed a spread of floaters and mid-range stuff to go together with elite courtroom imaginative and prescient and passing.

In different phrases, he would give Arkansas one other ball-handling, ball-moving choice on the ground alongside Smith, along with ridiculous, extremely switchable dimension on the defensive finish. (And that’s earlier than you get to the remainder of what Arkansas may play alongside him on the wing positions.) “He’s an enormous however prototypical level guard,” Argenal stated. “He can defend one by way of 5, he can offensive rebound, and he performs like he’s ticked off — he’ll get into the lane and tip-dunk it on somebody with two arms. He’s a distinct monster.”

The draw back? It’s unclear whether or not Black can shoot from the perimeter. Taking pictures has all the time been the downside to his recreation, and it stays so to this point. Then once more, it’s additionally unclear whether or not Musselman and Co. would think about that disqualifying. The advantages of Black’s ball-handling and playmaking and defensive versatility, significantly in Arkansas’s fast strike transition recreation, would possibly outweigh the spatial detriment of his capturing woes in half-court settings. In any case, the worst-case state of affairs right here looks as if Black will perform as Smith’s super-talented positional cowl, with the opportunity of functioning alongside him as nicely, relying on how the backcourt shakes out.

“They each have the flexibility to attain,” Musselman stated. “And with their dimension, they’ll each see over the protection, across the protection and thru the protection. These two guys, it’s no secret — they’re going to be a extremely essential half not simply to our offense or our protection however most significantly to our transition recreation.”

Ricky Council IV, junior, guard

If Black is merely a reserve level guard — a 6-7 McDonald’s All-American reserve level guard; you already know, that sort — then it might be as a result of Ricky Council IV emerged as a scorer too good to maintain on the bench. (There might be different causes too, although, once more, we’ll get there.) Council, a 6-foot-6 off guard, is an sometimes electrical attacking scorer. He was the sixth man of the 12 months within the American Athletic Convention final season, a participant who obtained the ball a ton when he got here off the bench. (The one participant to account for extra of Wichita State’s possessions was Tyson Etienne, who performed a bunch extra minutes.)

The Shockers weren’t significantly good below Isaac Brown a 12 months in the past, however Council’s particular person expertise dovetailed fairly properly with the issues Musselman and his employees search for from scoring guards within the switch portal. Chief amongst these qualities is a capability to generate factors on the free-throw line. It may be barely ugly — similar to Jaylin Williams spamming cost takes was ugly — however additionally it is a extremely efficient manner of juicing your offensive output when issues aren’t flowing and the ball isn’t taking place. Council drew 4.5 fouls per recreation and had a 41.9 % free-throw fee final season, after which shot 84.9 % from the stripe as soon as he arrived there. It’s a useful combo, particularly because it comes with high quality ending contained in the arc and scrappy defensive work besides.

Two questions right here. One: Can Council shoot higher than 30.6 % from 3? His free-throw proportion suggests as a lot, however the statistical jury was nonetheless out after summer time exercises. And two: Is he higher suited to a high-octane position off the bench? “We see him having a big impact scoring,” Argenal stated. “He’s only a scorer. Within the American, nobody actually runs, however we’ve been actually impressed along with his means to run the ground. He’s going to be proper there — whether or not it’s within the beginning lineup or not — to play lots for us.”

Davonte Davis, junior, guard

If such a factor can exist for a coach who has been at his present job for simply three years, Davonte Davis appears like a traditional Musselman Arkansas participant. Is he clearly, obviously good at anyone factor? Not likely. Certain, he’s a superb, unshowy perimeter defender, and that’s possibly a tougher talent for some to see and analyze. However offensively, he simply form of … does stuff. He’s an agent of chaos. He shot 27 % from 3 final 12 months. He turned it over a good quantity. He was a good distributor, if not a tremendous one, and his total scoring output typically wasn’t something to jot down residence about. However he’s nice taking part in with out the ball in his arms, good at slashing and discovering house and preserving performs alive. He’s concerned, contributing, bringing constructive worth, even if you happen to can’t all the time decide up that worth as implied between the traces of his stats. You form of need to squint to see it, but it surely’s there.

Anyway, being a veteran ought to assist him keep within the fold. He’s been there, performed that, isn’t adjusting like 11 different guys to Musselman and his strategies. By now, the teaching employees has a good suggestion of his baseline, and they’re nonetheless hoping for extra, one thing extra akin to the recent scoring end to his freshman season than the sluggish begin he had final 12 months. However his protection and expertise ought to maintain him on the ground.

Trevon Brazile, sophomore, ahead

Point out the title Trevon Brazile — as in, hey, Trevon Brazile, let’s speak about him now, what’s his deal — and the response from Argenal, on the opposite finish of the road, is a daunted sigh, a deep inhale, a seek for the precise phrases.

“He’s 6-foot-10, he’s – he’s like a spider, man,” Argenal stated. “He’s only a freak. He’s so lengthy. His vertical is like 40-something. He’s an NBA prospect, and he may be essentially the most spectacular man of the summer time so far.”

Wait – huh? Trevon Brazile? The child from Missouri? Who performed 25 video games for a really unhealthy Mizzou workforce within the dying embers of the Cuonzo Martin tenure? Who averaged 6.6 factors and 5.1 rebounds in 21.5 minutes per recreation? Are we speaking about the identical Trevon Brazile? He’s this workforce’s most spectacular man?

No, actually. Brazile, who was 6-foot-4 for a lot of his highschool profession, was injured early for the primary 10 video games of his first season at Missouri. He by no means actually discovered his groove. “I don’t suppose he confirmed who he actually is,” Argenal stated. However what he seems to be now, based on his coaches, is a 6-foot-9 stretch 4 with the foot velocity and size to protect a number of positions, a man who blocked 10.1 % of opponents’ pictures whereas on the ground final season, who posted high quality rebounding numbers on each ends, and who shot 61.4 % from 2 and 33.3 % from 3 … whereas toiling in complete obscurity for a nasty workforce. Arkansas, understandably, is satisfied that this child has a a lot brighter future forward of him, and that their mixture of participant improvement and system match may unleash a future professional onto the SEC.

Travon Brazile didn’t do an entire lot at Missouri final season however has dazzled the Razorbacks coaches this summer time. (Jay Biggerstaff / USA Right now)

“He may play the 4 for us, the three, he may even be a small-ball 5,” Argenal stated. “He’s a terrific passer for his dimension and a shot-block machine. If you see him, you’re like, ‘Whoa.’ He performs with kick.”

Jordan Walsh, freshman, wing

Which, sure, implies that we’ve gotten all the best way down this listing of Arkansas’s 2022-23 males’s basketball gamers with out mentioning their McDonald’s All-American recruit of the 12 months, a participant ranked precisely one spot within the 247Sports rankings behind the aforementioned Anthony Black — a participant (and that is actually the purpose right here) who due to all the wing depth round him may not even be a assured starter, regardless of his personal appreciable talent and flexibility.

That is the place you begin to notice how good Arkansas would possibly find yourself being.

Walsh is 6-7 and possibly the very best pure athletic power on a workforce filled with them. The very best hopes for him proper now are on the defensive finish, the place the employees thinks he might be one of many higher freshman defenders anyplace. He’s a particularly prepared defender, to the purpose that he’s a “hack” in follow, however these are the sorts of uncooked supplies — loopy athleticism and happiness to protect — from which elite defenders might be solid.

Most recruitniks have lengthy had him pegged as an athlete who wasn’t able to play on the perimeter offensively on the school degree simply but. However Walsh impressed his coaches along with his ending in drills and stay work this summer time. “We knew Jordan was a loopy athlete, clearly,” Argenal stated. “We knew he may play within the open flooring. However him and Trevon, simply catching and capturing, supplying you with choices on the three and the 4, with their dimension, as 3-and-D guys? It’s for positive shocked us.”

Jalen Graham, senior, ahead

How a lot small ball is Arkansas really going to play? As a result of there are just a few true bigs on this roster that may have one thing to say about that stability between now and the beginning of the season correct, Jalen Graham amongst them. On a workforce the place you possibly can think about an entire host of tantalizingly fashionable lineup configurations, Graham — a 6-9 switch from Arizona State — is an old-school, chuck-it-in-the-post-and-let-the-big-guy-eat form of massive, a back-to-the-basket scorer happiest on isolation catches. There’s a place for that on this combine, to make certain. How viable it will likely be from him will rely on what else he does whereas he’s on the ground. He grabbed 9 rebounds within the first European journey outing Tuesday, and that’s an space of apparent enchancment; his rebounding fee numbers look weirdly low (5.5 offensive, 15.5 defensive final season) for a man who looks as if he must be a way more frequent rebounder of the basketball. Arkansas additionally thinks he may be able to greater than the one made 3 he had final season. However he’s an choice for performs they wish to run within the put up and mid-post, the identical form of stuff that Stanley Umude made so efficient final season. He’ll have a big position to play.

Barry Dunning Jr., wing, freshman

One other of the potential “higher than the employees thought” surprises of the summer time, Barry Dunning is, in idea, the fourth-ranked recruit on this incoming class, however has impressed the Hogs employees along with his personal versatility. Musselman has put the 6-6 Dunning on the level greater than anybody concerned anticipated, the rationale being that the Hogs are so massive, if wish to go super-big, all they want is a man who can see excessive of the protection to get the ball throughout half courtroom and provoke their stuff. He’s been extra concerned, in additional and ranging methods, than mainly anybody would have anticipated a pair months in the past.

Dunning has principally confirmed able to no matter will get thrown at him. “He’ll have 4 actually good days after which one freshman day the place he’s only a catastrophe, however that’s regular,” Argenal stated. “He can do a bunch of stuff.” He’s additionally shot the ball surprisingly nicely. Certainly, he has began to tackle that whiff of the favourite youngster, the man whose laborious work and speedy adaptability Musselman clearly has an undisguised affinity for. “Not many individuals are going to speak about Barry Dunning,” Musselman stated after the win over Valencia Seleccion Tuesday. “I believed Barry performed very well.” He had 10 factors, 4 rebounds and a block, and most notably he began the sport — a reward for a robust summer time, and if not a cementing of his place within the rotation, at the very least an indication of minutes to come back.

Kamani Johnson, senior, ahead

Johnson is nearly actually Arkansas’s greatest offensive rebounder. He’s most likely the workforce’s greatest rebounder full cease. Or, failing that, he must show that he’s, as a result of because the lone returning member of this workforce’s frontcourt from a season in the past, he instantly has anyplace between 5 and 50 new faces looking for to siphon away his taking part in time. That’s true whether or not Arkansas performs massive lineups or small. No matter look the Razorbacks current, there may be some mixture of gamers that may attempt to show they’ll viably knock the 6-7 Johnson out of the lineup — that merely being a scrappy, undersized rebounder isn’t sufficient.

Besides it may be. Johnson has been main the Razorbacks in rebounding all offseason, and he was again at it once more Tuesday night time, shoving unwitting Valencia gamers out of the best way en path to a raft of rebounds. “He’s robust, he clears house,” Argenal stated. “He isn’t going to play above the rim. However he is aware of what coach needs.” Proper now, that’s a bonus, the advantage of being one in all two returners on a workforce filled with overwhelmed new guys.

Makhi Mitchell, junior, ahead
Makhel Mitchell, junior, ahead

School hoops followers agnostic to the (underrated and pleasurable!) Atlantic 10 males’s basketball convention might or might not have been conscious that it served as a touchdown spot for the Mitchell twins for the previous two seasons. It was a much-needed transfer after a short-lived and controversial stint at Maryland below Mark Turgeon, one which ended with the mom of the twins, Maria Mitchell, tweeting that her sons had been “railroaded” out of this system. The Mitchells arrived at Maryland with a popularity for leaving groups abruptly, and Turgeon, for what it’s value, wasn’t precisely susceptible to operating gamers out of city.

Anyway, that was all a number of years in the past now. The Mitchells have moved on, and been efficient sufficient, that they’ll get one other collective crack at high-major hoops in spite of everything. Makhi Mitchell, all the time the higher-ranked recruit of the 2 — seen because the extra versatile, much less standard massive man within the duo — was Rhode Island’s star final season. He did loads of issues nicely, significantly as a rebounder and rim protector, however he additionally turned the ball over a ton and completed with an 89.9 offensive score. Makhel, the traditional middle, was top-of-the-line shot-blockers within the nation a 12 months in the past. Each drew fouls at a excessive clip; neither shot it higher than 52 % from the road.

Makhi has all the time been the participant that particularly tempts coaches, the one with rather less top and weight and slightly bit extra means to maneuver across the perimeter. You possibly can see the enchantment. However the ball-handling and capturing nonetheless aren’t fairly there, and it’s laborious to say they’ll get to a spot the place the NBA is . Possibly.

Within the meantime, Arkansas has discovered each gamers to be hyper-competitive, which is hardly an issue so far as the employees is worried. Most of all, they’ve modified the defensive complexion of the workforce. Whereas the principle supply of rim safety as soon as got here from Jaylin Williams entering into place, standing in entrance of an onrushing scorer, and forcing whistles to go the opposite path, now each Mitchell twins — and the remainder of the frontcourt — are up above the rim, swinging limbs and swatting pictures. Defensively, from these lengthy guards and interchangeable wings to the imposing again line, everyone seems to be taller, and the duty of scoring over this protection is drastically extra daunting.

Derrion Ford, freshman, guard

In most different locations, for many different recruiting lessons, Derrion Ford can be appreciable minutes immediately. And, frankly, he would possibly nonetheless be: He’s a high quality four-star incoming prospect already boasting a school athlete’s body. The bodily calls for of the SEC won’t be past him. The issue, from this vantage anyway, is how one will get previous Smith, Black, Davis, Council and even Walsh to get impression minutes on this backcourt. However once more: That is the 73rd-ranked participant within the Class of 2022. It is a good participant, even when he would possibly want slightly little bit of time to interrupt by way of. This could inform you how deep this Arkansas workforce may go. It’s fairly loopy.

Joseph Pinion, freshman, wing

And that’s earlier than you get to, final however not least, Joseph Pinion, the fifth-ranked recruit on this No. 2-ranked group of 2022 Arkansas signees. Argenal stated the 6-5 Pinion has been a bit extra athletic and stronger than the employees thought, which is a manner of claiming they anticipated to come back in with expertise, needing to work on his physique to remain on the courtroom constantly. That’s most likely nonetheless the case, however he wasn’t as overwhelmed as people may need guessed on the outset.

“He’s a roper,” Argenal stated. “He can actually, actually shoot it.”

That talent may get Pinion on the courtroom in some unspecified time in the future. It’s the one space Arkansas actually struggled final season, and possibly the one space the place this group doesn’t have one or two apparent elite choices this 12 months. Nevertheless it additionally may not matter, as a result of these guys have all the pieces else — NBA-level expertise, rangy versatility, sheer foolish dimension. It is a ridiculously new, ridiculously deep roster, led by a coach and a employees loving the method of figuring it out.

(Prime picture of Eric Musselman: Kim Klement / USA Right now)