Arkansas basketball freshman point guard Boogie Fland will enter the 2025 NBA Draft, according to a post on his Instagram page Friday afternoon.

Fland is widely viewed as a late-first or early-second round draft pick after completing his first and only season with the Razorbacks. John Calipari has had a first-round pick in 17 straight years.

“Thank you to all my fans and supporters, this year has been nothing short of unforgettable,” Fland wrote on Insatgram.

“Returning to the team for March Madness and competing alongside my brothers was an experience I’ll cherish forever. Much love to Razorback Nation, Coach Calipari and the entire coaching staff, and every one of my teammates for believing in me.”

More: Arkansas basketball center Zvonimir Ivisic to enter transfer portal

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ESPN’s latest mock draft projects the San Antonio Spurs to pick Fland in the second round with the No. 38 pick.

Fland missed 18 games with a thumb injury he sustained in the Jan. 11 loss to Florida. He would go on to play two more games before shutting things down until the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Fland returned and played a key role in the Razorbacks win over Kansas, but he couldn’t find a rhythm across the next two rounds. He finished his freshman season averaging 13.5 points, 5.1 assists and 3.2 rebounds per game. Perhaps the biggest highlight of his campaign was returning home to New York City and scoring 20 points with seven assists in an 89-87 victory over Michigan inside Madison Square Garden.

Fland was a five-star recruit coming out of high school in 2024, and he was originally committed to Kentucky before following John Calipari to Arkansas. He was the second high school recruit to commit to Arkansas in the previous offseason, following Karter Knox.

Jackson Fuller covers Arkansas football, basketball and baseball for the Southwest Times Record, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at jfuller@gannett.com or follow him @jacksonfuller16 on X, formerly known as Twitter. 

More tornadoes will likely strike parts of the U.S. South on Friday with the potential for more devastation, forecasters warn.

Both EF2 and EF3 strength tornadoes could touch down Friday afternoon from northeastern Texas and southeastern Oklahoma into western and central Arkansas, according to the National Weather Service. Clusters of severe storms will also produce strong damaging winds, as well as hail up to the size of baseballs.

The region’s risk of severe weather is even higher Friday than it was on Thursday, when tornadoes flattened homes, downed powerlines and tore off roofs from Arkansas to Illinois.

The spring storms have reportedly killed at least seven people, including at least five across multiple Tennessee counties, one in southeastern Missouri, and one Indiana man who died after touching a downed power line.

The weather service urges people to keep up to date with the latest forecasts and warnings and be prepared to take action if necessary. The city of Little Rock, Arkansas, recommends packing a small backpack with water, medications, and important documents to take if sirens sound off indicating a tornado warning.

Live updates: 7 dead as relentless spring storms unleash ‘catastrophic’ rainfall

Weather forecast in Tulsa, Oklahoma

Weather forecast in Fort Worth, Texas

Weather forecast in Houston, Texas

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Contributing: Christopher Cann, Doyle Rice and Michael Loria, USA TODAY

Anthony Robledo is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at arobledo@usatoday.com and follow him on X @anthonyarobledo

Arkansas head football coach Sam Pittman gave his initial thoughts Thursday regarding the university’s addition of Remy Cofield as deputy athletics director and general manager for Razorback Athletics.

Cofield’s hiring was announced March 24 by the UA. He joined Arkansas after serving as the Boston Celtics’ Director of Scouting since 2020. Cofield was with the Celtics dating back to 2013, and his most recent role saw him assists in roster construction, including trades, draft picks, free agency, salary cap management and strategy.

“I think coming from the professional ranks, I think he’s seen and heard, regardless of the sport, exactly what we’re looking for,” Pittman said. “You know, more eyes, help understanding caps, all those things that he has great experience of. I’m looking forward to working with him and using him every bit as much as he’s able to be used, because we need help in that category.

“I’m not talking about just the evaluations and all. I’m talking about all of it — the money, a way to talk to agents. Some things that can take that personal relationship between me and the kids, somebody can be a buffer, along with a lot of other things. I’m looking forward to working with him.”

The first day of work for Cofield was Tuesday (April 1) and he’s expected to lead player contract negotiations and collaborate with head coaches, recruiting coordinators and administrative staff in implementing each program’s strategic vision, per university release.

While Arkansas athletics director Hunter Yurachek has yet to speak with media regarding the critical hire, Pittman was finally allowed to talk about the hire publicly Thursday.

“During this time, he’s going to be directly involved with everything,” Pittman said. “Meetings, evaluation on film, at practice, whatever it may be. After that, I think then he becomes part of (football chief of staff) Pat Doherty, part of the recruiting area. But he has to know our team, because he’s got to have an opinion. That’s why we hired him.

“I look for during this time, sort of like tax season, they have their on season and they have their offseason. A lot of us, we’re getting to know each other and all that. We have to be ready, like we’ve got guys in the portal. I’m watching five guys in the portal after this meeting between now and practice. He’ll do the same thing, and then we’ll come up with who we want and then of course the money becomes… is it affordable for us or not?”

Cofield will help oversee the strategic allocation of department and affiliate resources to support Razorback head coaches in the acquisition and retention of championship-caliber athletic talent, the UA said in a release. Along with his time with the Celtics, Cofield also served as the general manager of the Maine Celtics for two years.

“As we continue to position our sports programs for success, Remy Cofield will play an integral role in assisting our coaches in acquiring and retaining student-athletes to compete in the Southeastern Conference and nationally,” Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Hunter Yurachek said in a statement. “In his tenure with the Boston Celtics, Remy was a key front office player in building a championship franchise. His blend of experience both in sports and business makes him distinctly qualified to help lead our efforts in this new era of college athletics. Remy will work alongside our coaches and staff in all sports, to develop a strategic plan, prioritizing our rosters within the available resources. We look forward to welcoming Remy, his wife Tori and their three boys to Northwest Arkansas and into our Razorback Family.”

A Newton, Mass. native, Cofield was a collegiate men’s basketball player at the University of Pennsylvania in the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons. He was a McDonald’s All-America nominee and a runner up for the 2007 Massachusetts Gatorade Player of the Year.

With the basketball transfer portal currently in full swing and the football portal set to reopen April 16, Cofield should be a very busy man right now.