Hogs' Coach Makes Staying on Top Of College Basketball Trends Look Easy

Razorbacks' Eric Musselman has master plan of building roster full of transfers

Author:
Jacob Davis
Updated:
Oct 20, 2023 3:15 PM EDT
Original:
Oct 20, 2023

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Being ahead of the game is certainly something Arkansas coach Eric Musselman had to learn during his days leading minor league basketball teams. Trying to find edges around the college basketball landscape wasn't even all that hard for him once he saw a trend developing with the transfer portal.

Transferring has always been an option especially for college graduates with an extra year of eligibility to use before their athletic career is over. When Musselman took over a nine-win Nevada team it was going to take a lot of work to turn around the fortunes of such a downtrodden program like the Wolfpack.

He immediately went to work and found older players (transfers) and building a roster similar to the NBA way. Mussleman brought in freshman to build around so that by year four they would be ready to compete at a much higher level with a goal of the NCAA Tournament. They also added a trio of impact transfers in Marcus Marshall (Missouri State) and Jordan Caroline (Southern Illinois) and Lindsey Drew who was once committed to Arizona State.

After Musselman helped improve Nevada's overall win-loss record in year one by 15 wins, the Wolfpack added the Martin twins (Cody and Caleb), Hallice Cooke (Iowa State) and Kendall Stephens (Purdue). His high school recruiting was impressive at the mid-major level landing 5-star Jordan Brown. With a CBI Championship in tow and doing things his way, Musselman was set to make a run for the NCAA Tournament and redefine himself as one of the best coaches in college basketball.

The Mountain West Conference may not be a marquee league, they are very competitive and did have a team in the championship game of this year's NCAA Tournament. During Musselman's four seasons in Reno, Nevada the Wolfpack won 110 games under his tutelage with three NCAA Tournament appearances.

During his days at Arkansas, Musselman has been very dependent on transfers as big pieces. It all started during his first offseason when he was able to land a flurry of transfers including star guard Jimmy Whitt. Due to a lack of depth in the front court, the Razorbacks had to depend on creativity from the guards in order to generate enough offense to stay in games.

The Hogs were one of the best scoring teams in the country at 75 points per game which was in the top 60 in college basketball. Despite size issues, they were able to lockdown the perimeter forcing teams to a nation-best 27.2% from three. The 2019-20 team had Connor Vanover and JD Notae waiting in the wings as transfers that had to sit out for the season. Although, Vanover never made a consistent impact for the Hogs, Notae was the centerpiece of a team that went to consecutive Elite Eight's.

Other impact transfers for the Hogs the past two seasons have been forward Justin Smith (Indiana) and Jalen Tate (Northern Iowa) during 2020-21. That team also brought in a top five recruiting class as well including top 40-prospect Moses Moody, Davonte Davis, Jaylin Williams and KK Robinson who were all top-100 players comign out of high school. Stanley Umude (South Dakota), Au'diese Toney (Pittsburgh), Chris Lykes (Miami), Trey Wade (Wichita State), Jaxson Robinson (Texas A&M) and Kamani Johnson (Little Rock) were a loaded transfer class pieced together while also playing critical roles to a team that fell just short to Duke in the Elite Eight in 2022.

Last season, transfer Ricky Council IV (Wichita State) led the team in scoring after Trevon Brazile (Missouri) and true freshman Nick Smith had to sit out out due to knee injuries. Makhi and Makhel Mitchell (Rhode Island), and Jalen Graham (Arizona State) made impacts throughout the season with several notable performances. The team fell short against eventual champions, UConn, but Musselman feels very good about this team even if it feels like they're starting over with just 38% of last year's production returning.

During SEC Media Days, Musselman said that this team is full of new faces and will have to work hard to figure out a proper rotation.

“Roster management in college athletics is a big key in how you’re putting together our team. We don’t know who our end of game sets,” Musselman said. “Who we are in November will be much different in March for sure. If we are not shame on us because we are a team that should get better especially with all our new pieces.”

The Hogs bring in a whole new supporting cast to blend in with Brazile, Davis, Mitchell and Graham. It may take time to figure things out but Musselman is very optimistic about the additions of Khalif Battle (Temple), Tramon Mark (Houston), El Ellis (Louisville) and Jeremiah Davenport (Cincinnati). Team-building exercises are important for any team but when there are so many different moving pieces like Arkansas has chemistry seems to never be an issue as they always strengthen as the season plays on.

The transfer portal and NIL has created opportunities for college basketball to take on more of a NBA-style to it. Transfers were the start of unique roster changes and turnover and there may not be another program or coach that does it better than Arkansas and Musselman right now.

"In all areas," Musselman said. "With name, image and likeness there's financial awards for the players as they go through their college career. The transfer portal — keeping players and also players leaving programs and coming in — is the equivalent of free agency. Incoming freshman are the equivalent of a draft pick. You have to be flexible, got to be nimble, got to be willing to change and have an open mind. Where we are today, who knows where we'll be six months from now."