SEC Team Previews- Arkansas Edition

Arkansas Preview
Heading into his second season in charge in Fayetteville, there is a lot of
optimism surrounding Eric Musselman’s Arkansas program. The former Nevada boss’
first season was one of streaks, with the Razorbacks winning their first eight games
before losing five SEC games in a row in February. Through these inconsistencies, the
Razorbacks still finished with a 20-12 record (7-11 SEC) last season, which would have
likely sent them to the NCAA tournament for the fourth time in the last six seasons.
Who’s Back, Who’s Gone?
The Razorbacks lost their top three scorers last season in first-team All-SEC
performer G Mason Jones, G Isaiah Joe, and F Jimmy Whitt, with the first two declaring
for the NBA Draft (controversially, in Joe’s case) and the latter exhausting his NCAA
eligibility. They also lost F, Adrio Bailey and F, Jeantal Cylla to graduation, as well as F
Reggie Chaney (Houston) and G Jalen Harris (Nevada) to outgoing transfer. These
players leaving accounted for 84.7% of the scoring load and 89.1% of the rebounding
from last year’s squad, which shows how reliant they were on those players, specifically
Jones, who led the conference in scoring at 22 points per game.
As far as players returning for the Razorbacks, there is a distinct lack of
experience playing in Musselman’s system. The most experienced player left on the
roster would be G Desi Sills, who was the fourth-leading scorer last season. Outside of
Sills, there isn’t much SEC experience, although the Razorbacks had three sit-out
transfers in Bebe Iyiola (Stetson), Connor Vanover (California) and JD Notae
(Jacksonville) as well as Ethan Henderson that will factor into the rotation
conversation.
Newcomers
The story of Arkansas’ season in 2020-21 will be primarily written by their
newcomers, with three impressive grad transfers and a top-10 recruiting class making
up over half of their roster. G/F Jalen Tate (13.9 PPG at Northern Kentucky), F Justin
Smith (10.4 PPG at Indiana), and F, Vance Jackson Jr., (11.1 PPG at New Mexico)
combined to average 35.4 points per game last season, and will be expected to provide
a similar level of production as well as veteran leadership, as Arkansas doesn’t have
any other senior scholarship players on the roster. On the opposite end of the spectrum
as far as age is concerned is the top-10 recruiting class that Musselman put together,
which includes the point guard of the present/future in KK Robinson, an overall scoring
stud in hometown product Moses Moody and two other homegrown four-star players
that look to factor into the rotation in G, Davonte Davis, and F/C, Jaylin Williams. With
all of the losses that the Razorbacks suffered from last year’s squad, the trio of
experienced grad transfers and the quartet of freshmen will be relied upon to take the
Razorbacks to new heights in the SEC as they look to improve from their subpar SEC
record last season.
Projected Rotation
G: Desi Sills
G: Moses Moody
G: Jalen Tate
F: Justin Smith
F: Vance Jackson
Bench: KK Robinson
Bench: Connor Vanover
Bench: Davonte Davis
Bench: Jaylin Williams
Bench: JD Notae
Bench: Ethan Henderson
Bench: Bebe Iyiola
Arkansas has a few options as far as the starting lineup is concerned. The
starting point guard job is up for grabs between Desi Sills and KK Robinson, but
because of the collegiate experience I tend to lean more towards Sills being the day-
one starter, although Robinson certainly has the potential to take over that spot very
quickly. The forwards spots also are hotly contested, with Justin Smith and Vance
Jackson taking those spots in this projection. Connor Vanover was highly regarded
during his recruitment, and his 7-3 stature provides a matchup nightmare for teams that
Arkansas hasn’t had since Daniel Gafford left for the NBA draft, although Musselman
opted to play small last season up front, which would mean that Jackson and Smith at
6-9 and 6-7 respectively are the favorites to start at those front court positions.
Looking to the Future
Arkansas has a very balanced roster setup for the future seasons, with no class
having more than four players. They had four open scholarship spots heading into next
season, and looking at next season’s recruiting class, they already have three
commitments in four-star SG, Chance Moore, from McEachern HS in metro Atlanta,
junior college product C, Akol Mawain, who is ranked as the third-best JUCO recruit by
247 Sports and recent Arkansas-Little Rock transfer, Kamani Johnson, who is
expected to be eligible for the second semester of the 2021-22 season after earning
third-team All-Sun Belt honors last season. The Razorbacks also picked up a
commitment from 2022 four-star F, Joseph Pinion, from Morrilton, AR, marking the start
of their 2022 class, where they have five scholarships open.
Final Thoughts
After the dismissal of Mike Anderson at the end of the 2019 season, there was a
sense of a lack of direction in the Arkansas program. The next coaching hire was going
to be crucial in the direction of the Arkansas program for the next decade, and after
hiring Eric Musselman from Nevada after all of his successes in Reno, it seems like the
Razorbacks got it right to this point. As the Razorbacks move into Musselman’s second
season, they’ve pulled in a top-10 recruiting class to pair with a group of quality grad
transfers and a group of returning players that can provide depth to a roster that has
struggled for quality depth in past seasons. Look for the Razorbacks to have a much
more balanced roster heading into next season as they look to move forward without
the talismanic services of Mason Jones.
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