Eric Musselman Looking for Big Year from Trevon Brazile

Not a lot of specifics from Razorbacks' coach at SEC Media Day this week

Author:
Andy Hodges
Updated:
Oct 19, 2023 7:31 AM EDT
Original:
Oct 18, 2023

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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — If you were expecting specifics from Arkansas coach Eric Musselman at SEC Media Day on Wednesday, there wasn't a whole lot there. He really only talked about two players — Trevon Brazile and Jalen Graham. Most of it was general conversation about everything else.

"He's headed to have a great year, for sure," Musselman said about Brazile, who has spent a year recovering from a knee injury he suffered last year. [He] has an incredibly bright future beyond college."

Now with another nearly entire roster of new faces, Brazile is one of the few guys from last year coming back. Musselman has been cautious all summer and into preseason camp. It's pretty clear a lot of preparation is being made around a complete recovery for the forward.

"We spent the majority of this summer building around him and his versatility," Musselman said. "To have him go down when he did, then be able to kind of recalibrate who we were from an identity standpoint, It was a real tribute to the other guys because we had people step up. When he went down, we didn't make excuses internally."

We'll have a better idea what this team is starting Friday night. That's the exhibition opener against UT-Tyler in Bud Walton Arena at 6:30 p.m. Brazile may not play much in that game and Musselman is extremely cautious about when he will be completely cleared for full-speed action.

"He's done an incredible job with his rehab, as have our team doctors and our trainer," Musselman said. "He's been a little bit ahead of schedule with everything. We've been really, really patient with him, and we'll continue to be patient with Trevon even on Friday when we have our first exhibition game. He'll be ready for the first game as long as everything continues to progress as it has."

Last year, Brazile was on target and it was starting to look like a big year. Considering that was looking at the competition levels in the SEC these days, it's a pretty good statement.

"When he got hurt, we thought he was one of the best players in the league," Musselman said. "If you're one of the best players in the SEC, you're probably one of the best players in the country. Everybody knows about the SEC football-wise. Baseball and basketball, in my eyes, is underrated, even though people talk about it being one of the top two conferences from a basketball perspective. If you look at the coaches in the league, if you look at the talent level, if you look at the number of draft picks, I mean, I truly believe this is the premier basketball conference right now."