Eric Musselman’s latest Arkansas basketball roster makeover looks like his most talented one yet

There’s an old story about Eric Musselman, one Chicago radio host Dan Berstein told me on the air last season. In his early days in radio, Bernstein used to cover the Continental Basketball Association, where Musselman made his coaching bonafides, and where Bernstein quickly learned to check the roster every time he checked in on Musselman’s team. Odds were the coach, an inveterate tinkerer, had spent the time between games dropping the maximum number of players from the roster and signing up another handful more. It kept broadcasters on their toes.

Muss obsessively cycled through guys, was the point, and so it was no surprise to see the Arkansas coach become the early transfer portal king of the immediate-eligibility era. Forget slow-roasting your roster for four seasons. Go find the best players you could get every spring, bring them together, and then, like a dad playing Factorio, spend a few months joyfully puzzling and tweaking and rewiring, optimizing the previously disparate parts. It was a process not entirely unlike churning those CBA journeymen rosters of yore. To Musselman, this is fun.

Most importantly, it has worked. Thanks to his facility for a quick turnaround, once-dormant Arkansas men’s hoops is very much back, the Muss Bus rounding into year four with back-to-back Elite Eight appearances and consecutive top-four NCAA Tournament seeds in the immediate rear view. The fourth season of Musselman’s tenure has a chance to raise the level yet again, both in terms of talent and in sheer “let’s figure out what we’ve got here” unfamiliarity. There are, count ’em, 11 new players in Fayetteville, not just another talented haul of transfer veterans but also, in a fun new twist, six top 100 freshmen, including three McDonald’s All-Americans.

The Razorbacks sure seem loaded, but it will take some time, maybe even more time than usual, for Musselman and his staff to figure out exactly what they’ve got and how it all fits together. (Remember: Before the 2021-22 Razorbacks went 18-4 to finish the year, they lost five of six in December and early January, including to a 22-point loss to Oklahoma and a quasi-home defeat to Hofstra.) That process began in earnest in scrimmages and skill work sessions this summer, and from that work the stats-inclined staff gained significant insights. “The biggest thing that stands out is the size, length and versatility is as good as Coach has ever had,” assistant coach Gus Argenal said. “Like, we’re really big. The biggest thing we talk about in meetings right now is who works best with who — and who is ready to produce, and who’s not sure.”

The roster is a jumble, no doubt, but in a good way. If — OK, when — Musselman hones it, it will look as dangerous as any in the country.

Nick Smith Jr., guard, freshman

Make no mistake: That danger begins with Nick Smith. Smith arrives as heralded as basically any Arkansas player ever, not just because he might be the best guy in his entire incoming class but also because he’s a local star, first of Sylvan Hills High School in Sherwood and then, as a senior, where he led the team to a 26-3 record and a Class 6A state championship, at North Little Rock. (Felt obliged to get the Sylvan Hills shout-out in there. As a native of Davenport, Iowa, it always stung that Ricky Davis listed his hometown as Las Vegas. You played four years at Davenport North, Ricky! Slightly different situation here but still, shout out Sylvan Hills.) There is a special sauce when a hometown (or even home-state) kid this good signs on to a local program on the rise. Rabid fans love anyone who comes to play hard for the program, sure, but they love their own even more. The vibe is sensational. The possibilities feel limitless.

In Smith’s case, they should. There is very little on the floor he can’t do. Arkansas has him listed at 6-foot-5, and even at that size Smith will play like an attacking, scoring point guard, with the ball constantly in his hands. He was the obvious star of Arkansas’s win over Valencia Seleccion during their European exhibition tour on Tuesday, with 17 points, six assists and four rebounds, which is exactly the kind of do-it-all lines Arkansas’s staff is expecting out of Smith fairly regularly.

That dude @ntsmith1402 went to work pic.twitter.com/iS2YwyNpAt

— Arkansas Razorback Men’s Basketball 🐗 (@RazorbackMBB) August 9, 2022

Smith had three 3s in that game, which is something to watch with him: Can he provide high-level perimeter scoring, too? Can he genuinely stretch defenses? This is an area Arkansas struggled with last season, and often relied on (theoretically) low-percentage J.D. Notae rainmakers, often on the dribble. Arkansas, as a group, shot 30.4 percent from 3 last season. (Arkansas generally, and Notae specifically, made up for that at the margins, particularly by getting to and converting from the free-throw line.) The hope — and here’s where you really get the high-level analysis — is that this group will shoot the 3 better. Smith is the leading candidate on that front. “You know, he actually started slow scoring, and with his percentages, in live play,” Argenal said. “Now he’s just kind of molded into who he really is, which is a guy making unorthodox shots, playing out of the pick-and-roll, and knocking down 3s. He’s just kind of what you expect him to be.”

Which, considering where Smith-related expectations are right about now, is saying something. He seems like he’s going to be good.

Anthony Black, freshman, guard

One of the more interesting roster-related subplots is who will play alongside Smith, who is starting and playing plenty. That much we know. But his backcourt partner? Or partners, plural? That much remains up for some debate. Black is a significant candidate. A fellow McDonald’s All-American, Black is a 6-foot-7 point guard ranked second at the position nationally (to Smith, of course) in the class of 2022. Black has intrigued scouts for years, as it became clear that he was eschewing traditional wing play and really focusing on becoming a point guard, which he more or less accomplished: At high levels of high school basketball, he handled the ball, played in pick-and-roll, and developed a range of floaters and mid-range stuff to go along with elite court vision and passing.

In other words, he would give Arkansas another ball-handling, ball-moving option on the floor alongside Smith, in addition to ridiculous, highly switchable size on the defensive end. (And that’s before you get to the rest of what Arkansas could play alongside him at the wing positions.) “He’s a huge but prototypical point guard,” Argenal said. “He can defend one through five, he can offensive rebound, and he plays like he’s ticked off — he’ll get into the lane and tip-dunk it on someone with two hands. He’s a different monster.”

The downside? It’s unclear whether Black can shoot from the perimeter. Shooting has always been the drawback to his game, and it remains so to date. Then again, it’s also unclear whether Musselman and Co. would consider that disqualifying. The benefits of Black’s ball-handling and playmaking and defensive versatility, particularly in Arkansas’s quick strike transition game, might outweigh the spatial detriment of his shooting woes in half-court settings. In any case, the worst-case scenario here seems like Black will function as Smith’s super-talented positional cover, with the possibility of functioning alongside him as well, depending on how the backcourt shakes out.

“They both have the ability to score,” Musselman said. “And with their size, they can both see over the defense, around the defense and through the defense. Those two guys, it’s no secret — they’re going to be a really important part not just to our offense or our defense but most importantly to our transition game.”

Ricky Council IV, junior, guard

If Black is merely a reserve point guard — a 6-7 McDonald’s All-American reserve point guard; you know, that kind — then it may be because Ricky Council IV emerged as a scorer too good to keep on the bench. (There could be other reasons too, though, again, we’ll get there.) Council, a 6-foot-6 off guard, is an occasionally electric attacking scorer. He was the sixth man of the year in the American Athletic Conference last season, a player who got the ball a ton when he came off the bench. (The only player to account for more of Wichita State’s possessions was Tyson Etienne, who played a bunch more minutes.)

The Shockers weren’t particularly good under Isaac Brown a year ago, but Council’s individual skills dovetailed quite nicely with the things Musselman and his staff look for from scoring guards in the transfer portal. Chief among these qualities is an ability to generate points at the free-throw line. It might be slightly ugly — just like Jaylin Williams spamming charge takes was ugly — but it is also a highly effective way of juicing your offensive output when things aren’t flowing and the ball isn’t going down. Council drew 4.5 fouls per game and had a 41.9 percent free-throw rate last season, and then shot 84.9 percent from the stripe once he arrived there. It’s a handy combo, especially since it comes with quality finishing inside the arc and scrappy defensive work to boot.

Two questions here. One: Can Council shoot better than 30.6 percent from 3? His free-throw percentage suggests as much, but the statistical jury was still out after summer workouts. And two: Is he better suited to a high-octane role off the bench? “We see him having a huge impact scoring,” Argenal said. “He’s just a scorer. In the American, no one really runs, but we’ve been really impressed with his ability to run the floor. He’s going to be right there — whether it’s in the starting lineup or not — to play a lot for us.”

Davonte Davis, junior, guard

If such a thing can exist for a coach who has been at his current job for just three years, Davonte Davis feels like a classic Musselman Arkansas player. Is he obviously, glaringly good at any one thing? Not really. Sure, he’s an excellent, unshowy perimeter defender, and that is maybe a harder skill for some to see and analyze. But offensively, he just sort of … does stuff. He’s an agent of chaos. He shot 27 percent from 3 last year. He turned it over a fair amount. He was a decent distributor, if not an amazing one, and his overall scoring output in general wasn’t anything to write home about. But he’s great playing without the ball in his hands, good at slashing and finding space and keeping plays alive. He’s involved, contributing, bringing positive value, even if you can’t always pick up that value as implied between the lines of his stats. You sort of have to squint to see it, but it’s there.

Anyway, being a veteran should help him stay in the fold. He’s been there, done that, isn’t adjusting like 11 other guys to Musselman and his methods. By now, the coaching staff has a good idea of his baseline, and they are still hoping for more, something more akin to the hot scoring finish to his freshman season than the slow start he had last year. But his defense and experience should keep him on the floor.

Trevon Brazile, sophomore, forward

Mention the name Trevon Brazile — as in, hey, Trevon Brazile, let’s talk about him now, what’s his deal — and the response from Argenal, on the other end of the line, is a daunted sigh, a deep inhale, a search for the right words.

“He’s 6-foot-10, he’s – he’s like a spider, man,” Argenal said. “He’s just a freak. He’s so long. His vertical is like 40-something. He’s an NBA prospect, and he might be the most impressive guy of the summer thus far.”

Wait – huh? Trevon Brazile? The kid from Missouri? Who played 25 games for a very bad Mizzou team in the dying embers of the Cuonzo Martin tenure? Who averaged 6.6 points and 5.1 rebounds in 21.5 minutes per game? Are we talking about the same Trevon Brazile? He’s this team’s most impressive guy?

No, really. Brazile, who was 6-foot-4 for much of his high school career, was injured early for the first 10 games of his first season at Missouri. He never really found his groove. “I don’t think he showed who he really is,” Argenal said. But what he appears to be now, according to his coaches, is a 6-foot-9 stretch four with the foot speed and length to guard several positions, a guy who blocked 10.1 percent of opponents’ shots while on the floor last season, who posted quality rebounding numbers on both ends, and who shot 61.4 percent from 2 and 33.3 percent from 3 … while toiling in total obscurity for a bad team. Arkansas, understandably, is convinced that this kid has a much brighter future ahead of him, and that their combination of player development and system fit could unleash a future pro onto the SEC.

“He could play the four for us, the three, he could even be a small-ball five,” Argenal said. “He’s a great passer for his size and a shot-block machine. When you see him, you’re like, ‘Whoa.’ He plays with kick.”

Jordan Walsh, freshman, wing

Which, yes, means that we’ve gotten all the way down this list of Arkansas’s 2022-23 men’s basketball players without mentioning their McDonald’s All-American recruit of the year, a player ranked exactly one spot in the 247Sports rankings behind the aforementioned Anthony Black — a player (and this is really the point here) who because of all of the wing depth around him might not even be a guaranteed starter, despite his own considerable skill and versatility.

This is where you start to realize how good Arkansas might end up being.

Walsh is 6-7 and maybe the best pure athletic force on a team full of them. The highest hopes for him right now are on the defensive end, where the staff thinks he could be one of the better freshman defenders anywhere. He’s an extremely willing defender, to the point that he’s a “hack” in practice, but these are the kinds of raw materials — crazy athleticism and happiness to guard — from which elite defenders can be forged.

Most recruitniks have long had him pegged as an athlete who wasn’t ready to play on the perimeter offensively at the college level just yet. But Walsh impressed his coaches with his finishing in drills and live work this summer. “We knew Jordan was a crazy athlete, obviously,” Argenal said. “We knew he could play in the open floor. But him and Trevon, just catching and shooting, giving you options at the three and the four, with their size, as 3-and-D guys? It’s for sure surprised us.”

Jalen Graham, senior, forward

How much small ball is Arkansas actually going to play? Because there are a few true bigs on this roster that will have something to say about that balance between now and the start of the season proper, Jalen Graham among them. On a team where you can imagine a whole host of tantalizingly trendy lineup configurations, Graham — a 6-9 transfer from Arizona State — is an old-school, chuck-it-in-the-post-and-let-the-big-guy-eat sort of big, a back-to-the-basket scorer happiest on isolation catches. There is a place for that in this mix, to be sure. How viable it will be from him will depend on what else he does while he’s on the floor. He grabbed nine rebounds in the first European trip outing Tuesday, and that’s an area of obvious improvement; his rebounding rate numbers look weirdly low (5.5 offensive, 15.5 defensive last season) for a guy who seems like he should be a much more frequent rebounder of the basketball. Arkansas also thinks he might be capable of more than the one made 3 he had last season. But he is an option for plays they want to run in the post and mid-post, the same sort of stuff that Stanley Umude made so effective last season. He’ll have a significant role to play.

Barry Dunning Jr., wing, freshman

Another of the potential “better than the staff thought” surprises of the summer, Barry Dunning is, in theory, the fourth-ranked recruit in this incoming class, but has impressed the Hogs staff with his own versatility. Musselman has put the 6-6 Dunning at the point more than anyone involved expected, the rationale being that the Hogs are so big, if want to go super-big, all they need is a guy who can see over the top of the defense to get the ball across half court and initiate their stuff. He’s been more involved, in more and varying ways, than basically anyone would have expected a couple months ago.

Dunning has mostly proven capable of whatever gets thrown at him. “He’ll have four really good days and then one freshman day where he’s just a disaster, but that’s normal,” Argenal said. “He can do a bunch of stuff.” He’s also shot the ball surprisingly well. Indeed, he has started to take on that whiff of the favorite child, the guy whose hard work and immediate adaptability Musselman clearly has an undisguised affinity for. “Not many people are going to talk about Barry Dunning,” Musselman said after the win over Valencia Seleccion Tuesday. “I thought Barry played really well.” He had 10 points, four rebounds and a block, and most notably he started the game — a reward for a strong summer, and if not a cementing of his position in the rotation, at least a sign of minutes to come.

Kamani Johnson, senior, forward

Johnson is almost certainly Arkansas’s best offensive rebounder. He’s probably the team’s best rebounder full stop. Or, failing that, he needs to prove that he is, because as the lone returning member of this team’s frontcourt from a season ago, he suddenly has anywhere between five and 50 new faces seeking to siphon away his playing time. That is true whether Arkansas plays big lineups or small. Whatever look the Razorbacks present, there is some combination of players that will try to prove they can viably knock the 6-7 Johnson out of the lineup — that merely being a scrappy, undersized rebounder isn’t enough.

Except it might be. Johnson has been leading the Razorbacks in rebounding all offseason, and he was back at it again Tuesday night, shoving unwitting Valencia players out of the way en route to a raft of rebounds. “He’s tough, he clears space,” Argenal said. “He isn’t going to play above the rim. But he knows what coach wants.” Right now, that’s an advantage, the benefit of being one of two returners on a team full of overwhelmed new guys.

Makhi Mitchell, junior, forward
Makhel Mitchell, junior, forward

College hoops fans agnostic to the (underrated and enjoyable!) Atlantic 10 men’s basketball conference may or may not have been aware that it served as a landing spot for the Mitchell twins for the past two seasons. It was a much-needed move after a short-lived and controversial stint at Maryland under Mark Turgeon, one that ended with the mother of the twins, Maria Mitchell, tweeting that her sons were “railroaded” out of the program. The Mitchells arrived at Maryland with a reputation for leaving teams abruptly, and Turgeon, for what it’s worth, wasn’t exactly prone to running players out of town.

Anyway, that was all several years ago now. The Mitchells have moved on, and been effective enough, that they’ll get another collective crack at high-major hoops after all. Makhi Mitchell, always the higher-ranked recruit of the two — seen as the more versatile, less conventional big man in the duo — was Rhode Island’s star last season. He did plenty of things well, particularly as a rebounder and rim protector, but he also turned the ball over a ton and finished with an 89.9 offensive rating. Makhel, the classic center, was one of the best shot-blockers in the country a year ago. Both drew fouls at a high clip; neither shot it better than 52 percent from the line.

Makhi has always been the player that especially tempts coaches, the one with a little less height and weight and a little bit more ability to move around the perimeter. You can see the appeal. But the ball-handling and shooting still aren’t quite there, and it’s hard to say they’ll get to a place where the NBA is interested. Maybe.

In the meantime, Arkansas has found both players to be hyper-competitive, which is hardly a problem as far as the staff is concerned. Most of all, they’ve changed the defensive complexion of the team. Whereas the main source of rim protection once came from Jaylin Williams getting into position, standing in front of an onrushing scorer, and forcing whistles to go the other direction, now both Mitchell twins — and the rest of the frontcourt — are up above the rim, swinging limbs and swatting shots. Defensively, from those long guards and interchangeable wings to the imposing back line, everyone is taller, and the task of scoring over this defense is drastically more daunting.

Derrion Ford, freshman, guard

In most other places, for most other recruiting classes, Derrion Ford would be looking at considerable minutes right away. And, frankly, he might still be: He is a quality four-star incoming prospect already boasting a college athlete’s frame. The physical demands of the SEC will not be beyond him. The problem, from this vantage anyway, is how one gets past Smith, Black, Davis, Council and even Walsh to get impact minutes in this backcourt. But again: This is the 73rd-ranked player in the Class of 2022. This is a good player, even if he might need a little bit of time to break through. This should tell you how deep this Arkansas team could go. It’s pretty crazy.

Joseph Pinion, freshman, wing

And that’s before you get to, last but not least, Joseph Pinion, the fifth-ranked recruit in this No. 2-ranked group of 2022 Arkansas signees. Argenal said the 6-5 Pinion has been a bit more athletic and stronger than the staff thought, which is a way of saying they expected to come in with skills, needing to work on his body to stay on the court consistently. That is probably still the case, but he wasn’t as overwhelmed as folks might have guessed at the outset.

“He’s a roper,” Argenal said. “He can really, really shoot it.”

That skill could get Pinion on the court at some point. It is the one area Arkansas really struggled last season, and maybe the one area where this group doesn’t have one or two obvious elite options this year. But it also might not matter, because these guys have everything else — NBA-level talent, rangy versatility, sheer silly size. This is a ridiculously new, ridiculously deep roster, led by a coach and a staff loving the process of figuring it out.

(Top photo of Eric Musselman: Kim Klement / USA Today)