Eric Musselman elevated the Razorback brand the day he stepped on campus, and the program is back in the national spotlight. Don't take my word for it, though. I interviewed five national analysts for their thoughts on Muss and Hog basketball.
#wps
With Anthony Black’s commitment to Arkansas, it marks the first time in program history the Razorbacks have landed 3 McDonald’s All-Americans in a single recruiting class.
The Muss Effect.
Devo is getting a ton of credit, and rightfully so, but Kamani Johnson was HUGE. 4 points, 10 rebounds, and a whole lot of hustle plays that don’t show up in the box score.
Arkansas offense in Kenny Guiton’s first ever game as a playcaller:
481 total yards
255 passing yards (8.2 per pass)
226 rushing yards (4.8 per rush)
8-18 on 3rd down
32 points (7 from defense)
100-yard rusher
100-yard receiver
A WIN
DVH and Muss were on-hand to watch Arkansas beat A&M in football this year.
Pitt and DVH watched Arkansas take down
#1
Auburn.
They’re showing up at other sports. Other coaches are showing up, too.
The support within the athletics department as a whole is so cool to see.
Not a top job, you say?
- No. 2 in total attendance (2022-2023)
- No. 2 national coaching salary with Calipari
- T-No. 10 Final Four appearances
- No. 14 overall program win percentage (64.0%)
- No. 15 overall NCAAT bids
- One national championship
- Three Hall of Fame coaches
The last six months for Arkansas basketball has been quite the journey:
- lose Eric Musselman to USC
- lose the entire roster
- have no games on the schedule
- Dem-Gaz reporting names like Chris Jans interviewing
Then Yurachek hired Hall of Famer John Calipari, who:
- signed a
Arkansas brings in two McDonald’s All-Americans, the second-ranked recruiting class in the nation, potentially returns 2+ starters, and has the portal to work with.
They’ll be back.
Arkansas stayed at 20th in the NET after beating LSU by 12 yesterday. LSU dropped from 16 to 18.
Coach Muss was right - Arkansas went 3-0 against LSU this season and is behind them in the NET.
BOOM. Arkansas lands five-star McDonald’s All-American Boogie Fland.
Calipari’s second high school recruit at Arkansas is a burger boy. Just completed an official visit with four-star Billy Richmond.
Razorbacks have three players on scholarship now.
Pick six
Fumbled pitch
Muffed punt return
Missed field goal
Taking a sack in OT.
Personal foul penalty in 2OT
Mental mistakes. Never should’ve even come to overtime.
KJ Jefferson: 36/47 (76.6%) for 358 yards and 4 Touchdowns.
37 carries for 129 yards (3.5 YPC) and 2 Touchdowns.
487 total yards. Six Touchdowns. Zero turnovers.
Throwing a perfect strike to open the final game of a series Arkansas has a chance to sweep after signing three top-25 high school recruits and having a major portal target in attendance.
🐐
This statement left me with more questions than answers, honestly. If you had no problems ignoring interview requests for two years, why is it an issue not to answer questions provided this week? The piece hasn’t been released yet, but you know it’s full of false allegations?
Arkansas is a national brand in basketball. Has been for a while.
Musselman revitalized it.
Cal will elevate it further.
Truly insane. John Calipari will be the head coach at Arkansas.
Three years ago today, Eric Musselman took the head coaching job at Arkansas.
- 73-28 (33-20)
- 2 Elite Eights
- first one and done in program history
- first recruiting class with 3 McDonald’s AAs in program history
- still trending upward
Alabama: 42
Arkansas: 35
*not even worthy of a pick on Gameday according to
@DesmondHoward
*
Michigan State: 7
Ohio State: 56
*Gameday’s location for the week*
It’s really difficult to rebuild in the middle of a pandemic when the conference hand-picks the toughest schedule in college football history and the officials blatantly miss countless calls. I’ll leave it at that.
#wps
“Arkansas will now be the hot spot. Arkansas will have the No. 1 recruiting class every single year. Arkansas will be full of celebrities. Arkansas will have the most talent coming in and out every single year…”
Great seeing Nick Smith Jr
@lif3nick
in our practice facility today. Any former Arkansas players, or players that played for me, are always welcome here. All hands on deck. Let’s go!!
NEWS: Arkansas has landed Tennessee transfer Jonas Aidoo.
The 6’11” big man averaged 11.4 points and 7.3 rebounds with 1.8 blocks per game for the Volunteers last season.
Big time addition for John Calipari and the Razorbacks.
#wps
@RivalsPortal
Some takeaways from last night:
1) Auburn is very good
2) Arkansas is legit and can defensive game plan and matchup with almost anybody
3) JD Notae is a legit SEC POTY candidate
4) Bud Walton Arena is not dead.
Transfer portal and different eras be damned, Musselman left the Razorback basketball program with zero players on the active roster and zero incoming freshmen.
There’s no way to defend that. At all.
In the span of a few days, Arkansas:
- is in the process of (likely) getting the Slobber Hog back
- trying to raise $1m in NIL funds
- knocked off the No. 4 team in the country
- hosting a five-star guard (basketball) while knocking off said No. 4 team
Not bad, not bad
“Calipari and his staff are expected to land more notable names in the portal in the coming days.” - Matt Norlander (
@MattNorlander
).
Things are about to get crazy!
Layden Blocker’s journey so far has been a story of just going to work.
- played top competition year round in high school for two years
- committed to Arkansas as the No. 24 player in the country
- didn’t get same hype as other freshmen in the Muss era despite being 3rd highest
Why play for John Calipari?
70% of players recruited in the last 15 years were drafted and 73% of that 70% got to second contracts.
“I believe 30% of the max contracts in the NBA are my guys & our kids have earned over $5 billion without endorsements”
BOOM. Arkansas lands four-star Isaiah Elohim. The Sierra Canyon (CA) product is ranked the No. 34 player on Rivals.
Big pickup for the Razorbacks and Eric Musselman in the 2024 class.
Let me get this straight:
- phantom tech with no explanation on Arkansas
- foul on Devo
- Creighton player steps out of bounds; no whistle
- Brazile takes it to the rack and no call
BREAKING: Arkansas forward Trevon Brazile is RETURNING to Fayetteville.
Huge news for the Razorbacks to get a proven productive stretch four in the rotation.
#wps
So, to recap this weekend (updated):
- Hogs make Elite Eight
- Baseball team sweeps
#2
/3 Miss St. at Miss. St.
- Softball team sweeps
- football lands top-100 recruit from Michigan
It’s hard to be humble.
#wps
All things considered: losing two guys to the NBA, returning 6% of scoring offense, playing 3 true freshmen, and in a good spot to finish 2nd in the SEC and play for a 4/5 seed in the tournament. Eric Musselman probably deserves SEC Coach of the Year.
#wps
NEWS: Four-star recruit Billy Richmond has committed to Arkansas and John Calipari, per reports.
Richmond is the No. 22 player in the country.
The Razorbacks now have three top-25 commits in the 2024 class.
#wps
I might be in the minority, but I am of the opinion that you can’t allow a team to shoot 55/40/89 and complain about officiating as the reason for a loss.
Arkansas has contacted Seton Hall transfer Dre Davis, per
@AdamZagoria
.
6’5”, 220. Averaged 15.0 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.3 blocks on 49.2 fg%, 35.0 3fg%, and 84.0 FT%.
First contact of the Calipari era.
BOOM! Arkansas lands five-star guard Darius Acuff Jr.
The IMG Academy product chose the Razorbacks over Kansas and Michigan.
He’s John Calipari’s second five-star recruit in Fayetteville and the fourth top-25 recruit since he took the job just over 100 days ago.
#wps
Five-star F Cam Boozer says Arkansas’ John Calipari called him this week to re-offer him, per
@Cassidy_Rob
. He has not yet heard from the new Kentucky staff.
Tough test for Arkansas tonight against South Dakota State.
Jackrabbits have two preseason first-team all conference selections and a former Summit 6th Man of the Year.
Multiple players also shit over 40% from three last year. Struggling to start this year.
SEC Coaches Ranked:
1) Chris Beard
2) Eric Musselman
3) Nate Oats
4) Rick Barnes
5) John Calipari
6) Bruce Pearl
7) Dennis Gates
8) Jerry Stackhouse
9) Buzz Williams
10) Chris Jans
11) Todd Golden
12) Mike White
13) Matt McMahon
14) Lamont Paris
Still INSANE that in a span of seven years (1990-1996), Nolan Richardson led Arkansas to:
- A national championship
- National runners-up
- Three Final Fours
- Four Elite Eights
- Six Sweet Sixteens
“Something tells me we got something beautiful in the air.”
Coach Richardson still making people want to run through brick walls after all these years.
#wps