When sophomore Keyon Menifield Jr. decided to enter the transfer portal in the offseason, his expectations where to immediately play for his new team this season.
The 6-foot-1, 170-pound point-guard ended up committing to Arkansas and Head Coach Eric Musselman over Alabama, Tennessee, Ohio State and Louisville on April 4. He was the first of six additions for a Razorback transfer class that ranked No. 7 nationally, according to 247Sports.
Menifield arrived on campus early in the summer, shortly before the NCAA denied him eligibility for the current season. It was then announced that the Flint, Mich., native would redshirt the season as a non-scholarship player.
That all changed last Friday, when Arkansas announced that Menifield was granted a waiver by the NCAA and was immediately eligible, following the fall academic semester. A day later, he took the court for the first time as a Razorback, in a 69-66 win over Lipscomb in Little Rock.
“Man, I couldn’t believe it,” Menifield said Monday, as a guest on the Eric Musselman Live radio show at Sassy’s Bar & Grille. “From coming here and thinking I was going to play from the start. Then having that happen to me and having it in my mind that I wasn’t going to get to play this whole year. I just set my mind on just working as hard as I can to get ready for next year. Then to hear that I could finally play was amazing.”
He was named the 2021 Michigan Division 3 Player of the Year at Flint’s Beecher High, capping the year with a 37-point performance in the state championship game. He then transferred to Phoenix (Ariz.) Prep for his senior season, where he was the leading scorer in Nike’s prestigious EYBL 2022 Peach Jam, averaging 22.6 points on 46.7 percent shooting.
After beginning his collegiate career at the University of Washington, he earned Pac-12 All-Freshman honors last season. He was an immediate hot commodity when it was announced that he would enter the transfer portal in April.
“I really didn’t know what to expect – I was just throwing myself out there to see what I could get,” he said. “It was crazy. I woke up the next morning and had a bunch of missed calls from phone numbers I didn’t know, and text messages I didn’t know. I didn’t know who was who.
“Every single coach on the Arkansas staff hit me up. They were on me every day and talking about the winning culture here and how Coach Muss is hard on his players, but he’s going to do whatever he has to do to make us better.”
Menifield felt an immediate bond with the staff and teammates when he arrived in Fayetteville, although he admitted, that the slower pace of Northwest Arkansas is much different than Flint, Phoenix or Seattle.
“It’s a lot quieter here and everybody is together here,” he explained. “I feel like it is a better place for me here, better competition, a better environment. They treat me like family here. The whole coaching staff always hits me up to talk to me, so it just feels like family.”
With the Hogs (7-4) struggling through the early season, thus far, Musselman is thrilled to finally have Menifield in uniform, as a true point guard who can control the flow of the game.
“He’s going to change our team, for sure,” Musselman said during his show on Monday. “He’s a very, very unselfish player. He’s got an incredible burst of speed. He’s a dynamic player, but one of the things that’s cool about Keyon is that he has a real positive spirit about himself. The other players were really excited when it became known that he would be eligible. They want to play with him, they want him on the floor. I think he’s going to make our offense run a little bit smoother, because he is such a dynamic, quick force, who’s got a true point-guard mentality.”
Musselman then got a chuckle from the crowd when he added, “I don’t like the fact that he wears the same size clothes that I do. That’s just less gear for me.”
Menifield played 19 minutes against Lipscomb, more than expected, and finished with two points, three rebounds and two assists.
“I thought I was in shape until I got out there and got to running up and down,” he said with a laugh. “Game shape is way different than practice shape.”
Menifield prides himself on being an effective playmaker who can score, but his main objective on the court is to keep his teammates involved in the flow.
“I really want to get my teammates involved and go out there and share the ball – and I think that’s what we need right now,” he said. “I get more excited when I can pass my teammates the ball and see them score. It just gives me a lot of joy to get all my teammates involved.
“I feel like I can go at a slow pace or a fast pace, depending on what we need in that situation.”
Menifield was blown away the first time he experienced the raucous Razorback crowd and atmosphere in Bud Walton Arena, for the Purdue exhibition game on Nov. 28.
“I had never seen anything like that before, a sold-out crowd,” he said. “At Washington it was like 9,000 people in the stands, the max. So, coming here and seeing everybody cheering, and it was loud, was something I had never seen before.”
Although he had been unable to suit up for games, Menifield has practiced with the team since the season began. When it was announced that he would not be eligible, his teammates rallied around him with encouragement.
“They were very encouraging and just said, ‘Take this year to get stronger and faster for next year’,” he said. “They just kept pushing me, so that made me more comfortable. and they made it real easy for me.
“When I first got in the game Saturday I was kind of nervous, because I hadn’t played in an actual game since March. But once I got in there and got going up and down, then took my first shot, it was normal. Just playing with my teammates. I’ve been practicing with them all year, so it just felt normal.”
The toughest part for Menifield is being so far away from his close-knit family in Michigan.
“My mom is like my best friend – she did a lot for us growing up, so it makes me want to go harder and do better for her,” he said. “When I make it, she’s going to make it. I want to see her happy and not have to work any more.”
He then drew some laughs from the crowd when he discussed his family’s postgame calls to him.
“After the games I’ve got missed calls from my mom, my brother and my dad,” he said with a grin. “Whoever called me first, I call them back. And then they talk to me about what’s going on – why I did this or didn’t do that. I’m unusually scared of my dad’s phone calls.”
For now, Menifield is focusing solely on his role with the team and how he can make everyone around him better.
“I just want to get back to playing with my teammates, get my chemistry right with them,” he said. “Then make sure I’m doing things the right way, so when it’s my time, I can be ready to go.”
