Musselman Needs to Spend This Week Working on Chemistry, and We Don't Mean For This Team

With transfer portal open, Arkansas has to identify right players, act swiftly with North Carolina looming

Author:
Kent Smith
Publish date:
Mar 15, 2023 8:05 AM EDT

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The transfer portal for college basketball is open just in time to serve as a distraction for coaches trying to get ready for their assigned postseason tournaments.

With North Carolina announcing the Tar Heels are skipping the NIT to focus on rebuilding for next season, all other programs that rely heavily on the transfer portal were put on notice. One of the commercial fishermen in the the relatively small sea of transfers is heading out for big fish season earlier than the rest.

Of course, this has to put Arkansas coach Eric Musselman on edge. Even before the transfer portal became the coolest way to rebuild a team with what is essentially an NCAA free agency period each season, Musselman was out in Nevada luring players away from other schools.

With the added pressure of North Carolina getting an early jump, Musselman will need to zero in on the guys he really wants to fight for almost immediately.

Obviously, Razorback fans are going to want to know how many new faces the Arkansas coach intends to bring to Fayetteville. There's no way to know for sure how many, but if history serves as an indicator, it could be as many as nine to 10.

It's not safe to assume any current Razorbacks are coming back. The Mitchell twins might be the most likely since they are beginning to make a name for themselves against top notch competition and fit the change in profile this team needs going into next season.

Outside of that, it's Baye Fall and a lot of question marks. It wouldn't even be a sure bet to assume Davonte Davis comes back for his senior season considering the nature of the transfer portal under Musselman and how in demand Davis will be.

So with the idea that Arkansas is going to once again need a lot of bodies this spring, what can be learned from the construction of this season's group of Razorbacks?

1. Musselman needs to go find some men. The Mitchell twins are a good start. If Jordan Walsh can be convinced to come back and work on his draft status for one more year, then he's a pretty solid starter kit, but there's got to be more Kamani Johnson mentality on this team.

Arkansas needs fully filled out men who fear nothing and feel like oak trees when a player of the same position tries to pound into them.

They can't just be men on the physical side though. They have to be grown men mentally also.

No more Razorbacks whining and crying every time a foul is called. Instead, Musselman needs men who will look at the guy they fouled and deliver a stare that says "Yeah, I fouled you. You gonna do something about it? If you come in here again, I won't let you leave in one piece."

2. There has to be a better mix of games from the players coming in. Everyone can't just be a guy who drives to the basket.

A combination of skills are a must, but above all else, players need to be able to shoot. How so many players got ranked as high as they did in the recruiting rankings without being good, reliable shooters is simply dumbfounding and says a lot about the need to revamp how recruiting rankings are done.

Find two guys who can play with their backs to the basket. Find two guys who can shoot the mid-range jumper. Find two or three guys who can really shoot the three.

Obviously, it would be preferable if players could be highly effective in multiple scoring areas, but it can't be a homogenous skill set like Arkansas put out this season.

3. If there is one thing Musselman learned from this group, it's that length and athleticism can cover up a lot of flaws in talent. Therefore, anyone he brings in will need those qualities so long as it doesn't sacrifice the first two items on this list.

4. The next wave of players need to come in with a chip on their shoulders. They need to have something to prove rather than feel like they've already proven everything before stepping on the court.

This includes being willing to do whatever it takes to win. If that means scrapping for rebounds on offense to get second and third chance points, then so be it.

If it means exhausting himself to prove he can shut down an opposing star, then that needs to happen. Whoever walks in that door needs to have a fire and a drive to prove all the doubters wrong and a need to win so bad that it hurts on days off because he can't put another W in the record books

5. The last part of the equation is that Musselman needs to find some stone cold metaphorical killers. That's not to be confused with actual killers, which apparently happens sometimes.

Arkansas needs guys who get the lead and get mad because the lead isn't getting bigger fast enough. No more of this feeling bad about getting up by double digits.

The Razorbacks need guys who believe it's another team's duty to stop them from scoring or, otherwise, learn from the natural consequences of not being prepared for the fight that was asked of them. Even Musselman openly said his team was soft and the players appear to have agreed in an SEC Tournament press conference.

That can't happen anymore.

The only way to another national championship for the Razorbacks is to have a group of guys who want to make people pay for daring to step on the court with them. It must truly feel offensive that the other team even put on its uniform.

Are there guys out there in the transfer portal who fit this bill?

Absolutely.

The Razorbacks have already reached out to a few. They just have to land them before North Carolina does.

Next season will be the most important of Musselman's career. This past season he went from "The Professor" to "The Shopper."

Being "The Shopper" doesn't suit Musselman. He must evolve into something even greater than what he was in his Professor persona.

Musselman must become "The Chemist."

He can't only be brilliant. He has to find a way to mix the exact perfect ingredients and identify their optimum use.

That's how he gets that championship ring that he burns so desperately to acquire.

And that starts in the 2023 portal.