FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas coach Eric Musselman is suiting up for tonight’s NBA Draft in New York.

After being in many teams’ draft rooms in his time as an NBA head coach and assistant, Musselman will attend the draft for the first time.

Musselman will be at the Barclays Center to support guards Anthony Black and Nick Smith, who are projected first-round picks after playing for the Razorbacks as freshmen this season.

Black and Smith are among the players invited to the draft by the NBA.

Rather than wear his trademark polo shirt as Musselman has at games the past four seasons since becoming the Razorbacks’ coach, he’ll be decked out in a suit and tie.

“Out of respect for all the draftees who will be dressed up,” Musselman said.

Musselman, whose favorite outfits are shorts and t-shirts, said tonight will be the first time he’s worn a suit since April 8, 2019, when he was introduced as Arkansas’ coach and held a press conference in Walton Arena.

As a new SEC coach, Musselman said he expected to be required to wear a suit, but Arkansas Athletic Director Hunter Yurachek told him coaching in a polo shirt was fine.

“I bought custom [made] suits from a guy out of Memphis,” Musselman said. “I’m finally getting to wear one for the first time. It’s been in the closet since the day I bought it.”

Musselman said his wife, Danyelle, and daughter, Mariah, helped him pick out which suit to wear tonight. Danyelle will attend the draft with her husband and his son, Michael, who is Arkansas’ director of basketball operations.

“We had a suit fitting at the Musselman house,” Musselman said on a podcast with Aaron Torres. “I let my wife and daughter give me the thumbs up or thumbs down.”

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Arkansas could have as many as four players drafted from a team which reached the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 for the third consecutive season after beating defending national champion Kansas in a second-round game.

Guard Ricky Council, a junior guard this season, and Jordan Walsh, a freshman forward, are projected as second-round picks.

“We’ve gotten great feedback [from NBA teams] on all four of our guys,” Musselman said. “As a staff, we follow up after each of our players has a workout. We get feedback from at least two people in each NBA organization.

“We have gotten incredible feedback on the interviews and also on understanding of concepts in the drill work.”

Musselman said he’s hopeful Black and Smith will be lottery picks — meaning the first 14.

“With Ricky and Jordan, it will come down to a team need or upside in player potential,” Musselman said.

Black, a 6-7 point guard from Duncanville, Texas, is projected as the No. 8 pick by the Washington Wizards in most NBA mock drafts. He also has been listed as the No. 6 pick to the Orlando Magic.

The Razorbacks haven’t had a player picked in the top 10 since 2001 when Joe Johnson was taken 10th by the Boston Celtics. Their last lottery pick was Ronnie Brewer — now Arkansas’ recruiting coordinator — at No. 14 by the Utah Jazz in 2006.

“From a point guard position, you’re not going to find a better rebounder than Anthony,” Musselman told NBA Radio.

Black averaged 12.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2.1 steals with 22 blocked shots, but Musselman said his most impressive stat was averaging an SEC-leading 34.8 minutes while starting all 36 games.

“You’re talking about a college freshman that played the most difficult position at a unique size, so he’s getting pressured by smaller point guards,” Musselman told NBA Radio. “And yet he plays 35 minutes a night, which led the entire SEC, the most talented conference in college basketball.

“Durability and availability are two phrases that are really starting to become prevalent in conversations with NBA executives.

“Anthony is able to play through injuries, he’s got a body that can withstand the physicality of the NBA game. So he’s got an incredibly bright future.”

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Black, speaking to reporters at the NBA Scouting Combine, was asked why he played through injuries.

“I can humbly say my team is better when I’m on the court,” Black said. “And I don’t want to lose.”

Musselman said Black will impact a team’s locker room in a positive way and also help sell tickets.

“Whatever NBA team drafts him is going to be able to use Anthony from a marketing standpoint,” Musselman told NBA Radio. “He does have the personality to be the face of a franchise.”

Smith, 6-5, was USA Today’s national high school player of the year as a senior at North Little Rock and a projected top five NBA Draft pick before this season.

But Smith twice injured his right knee — first in the Razorbacks’ fourth game of their European exhibition tour in August and then later in the season — and was limited to 17 games. He averaged 12.5 points and shot 37.6% from the field.

Several mock drafts have Smith being picked at No. 19 by the Golden State Warriors.

Musselman said last season wasn’t an accurate gauge of what Smith can bring to an NBA team because of his knee injury, but that he’s now fully healthy.

“Teams need to understand that he’s a great ball-handler, can be very dynamic in pick-and-rolls,” Musselman told NBA Radio. “Defensively, Nick does a really good job of hounding the basketball. When a point guard is trying to initiate offense, the heat that Nick can put on the ball is at a high level.

“Nick’s area of growth is just getting stronger, but he’s much stronger than he looks. He’s wiry strong. He plays with the basketball in his hands like he’s on skates. He can get wherever he wants to spots. He can create his own shots when the clock’s winding down.

“In the 17 games he played [at Arkansas], you did not get to see the true Nick Smith. I think you will [in the NBA]. He’s a guy that I think, if you pass him up, has the potential to have star quality once he gets to an NBA organization.

“You add up his competitiveness, offensive ability and the ability to practice hard, and that’s a pretty doggone good package.”

Smith talked with reporters after working out for the Washington Wizards on June 5.

“I’m willing to do anything for the team — pass, score, play elite defense,” Smith said. “Arkansas prepared me for this. Pretty much everything we did in there [at the Wizards’ workout] we did in college.”

Smith said he doesn’t regret playing this season despite his right knee issues.

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“I just wanted to win games,” he said. “I feel like I made the right decision for me to come back and play and get to experience my one year in college.”

Black lived with Smith in Fayetteville and the two became close friends.

“Nick’s a competitor, so I wasn’t surprised he came back,” Black told reporters at the NBA Scouting Combine. “He put his health and his [draft] stock on the line to try to help us win. I’ve got a lot of respect for that.”

Council, a 6-6 wing player, averaged a team-high 16.1 points for the Razorbacks after transferring from Wichita State.

Playing and practicing with so many other NBA prospects at Arkansas, Council said, helped elevate his game.

“You couldn’t do nothing but shy away or get better,” Council, speaking to reporters on May 30 after a workout for the Indiana Pacers, said of the competition he faced as a Razorback. “And I feel like I definitely got better and prevailed.”

Council said he’s anxious to see where he lands in the NBA.

“I’ll play whatever role they need me in,” he said. “I just want to do whatever I can to make a roster, first of all, and then help the team win.”

Walsh, 6-7, averaged 7.1 points and 3.9 rebounds, but most impressively played lockdown defense.

Moses Moody, a guard from Little Rock, became the first Arkansas freshman to be drafted in the first round when he went to Golden State at No. 14 in 2021.

Now the Razorbacks could have three one-and-done players in Black, Smith and Walsh.

“Three freshmen getting drafted will really resonate with high school recruits,” Musselman said.

Arkansas is projected to have four players drafted for the second time. The only time it has happened previously was in 1992, when Todd Day, Oliver Miller and Lee Mayberry were first-round picks and Isaiah “Butch” Morris was a second-rounder.

“Four players’ lives could change on draft night,” Musselman said. “That certainly will put our program on a national stage for years to come.”

That’s why Musselman is attending the draft tonight and will wear a suit for the first time in more than four years.