Newest Hogs' Transfer Has Unlimited Potential to Succeed, Fail
FAYETTEVILLE - Even with a large, highly-touted recruiting class that has created the need to get players to abandon their scholarships at Arkansas to accommodate, head coach Eric Musselman couldn't quit his addiction to the transfer portal.
That landed the Hogs 6-9 forward Trevon Brazile from fellow SEC member Missouri a couple of days ago, and has generated a great deal of smoke around 6-11, 245 Utah Valley center Fardaws Aimaq.
So, now that Brazile is one of the seven players that we know for sure will be on the team, what exactly is Arkansas getting?
Nirmalendu Majumdar - USA TODAY NETWORK
Brazile was a 3-star out of high school last year and played this past season with a body similar to Jaylin Williams during his freshman season. Much like Williams, he is a big man who can step beyond the arc and hit the three from time to time, but has an edge on athleticism.
There's great deal of upside.
Brazile is a solid rim protector and does a decent job of being in position to block out and snatch rebounds. He also developed a quick step as a slasher to the rim on offense.
Even his negatives have an upside as a result of the coach he has chosen.
His biggest shortcoming his how easy it is to get him off his feet on defense. Brazile is a prototype for landing in the Eric Musselman two-foul first half jail in the first four minutes of every game.
However, that's coachable.
He currently lacks the discipline needed to take charges.
That's coachable.
Brazile needs to increase his court awareness. At times he loses track of where he is spatially on the floor and loses track of where defenders are positioned.
That's coachable.
When he wandered out to the top of the key on defense this past season, guards were able to get him leaning at times and blow by him. While this is an issue, his ability to recover and alter some of the resulting shots from behind using his length and wingspan was impressive.
Avoiding getting beat by guards. That's coachable.
Nelson Chenault - USA TODAY Sports
Athletic ability. Height. Wing span. That's not.
Brazile split time stuck between an offense that called for him to run to the corner and pretend his feet were stuck in quicksand while he watched the game play out in front of him and a more active offense that took advantage of his ability to create havoc in the paint.
Clearly, he was more successful when the offense allowed for more movement. His athleticism and willingness to be active down low creates so many problems for defenses.
If Brazile hits the gym hard in the offseason and goes above and beyond to be coachable, he has the raw tools to develop into a future NBA player after three years of seasoning. If he doesn't, he'll find himself in purgatory at the end of the bench come January 15 and the next time you hear from him will be this time next year when he posts his thank you image for the transfer portal.
The ball truly is in this young man's court with unlimited potential to go either direction.
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