Tag: Eric Musselman

Arkansas basketball recruiting Snoop Dogg to the Muss Bus

Snoop Dogg is the second rapper to visit the Arkansas basketball coach in the last couple weeks.

Rapper and mogul Snoop Dogg was in Fayetteville this week, and Arkansas Razorbacks basketball coach Eric Musselman wasted no time reaching out to the icon.

Musselman joked he was recruiting the 50-year-old Snoop Dogg to get on the “Muss Bus” for the Razorbacks. Ever the active one, Snoop dropped by to see Musselman in person.

Snoop Dogg, who is a UCLA fan having grown up in Los Angeles, told Musselman the 1995 NCAA championship between the Bruins and Arkansas was one of his favorite games of all time.

Musselman, who uses social media about as well as any coach in any sport in the country, had met another rapper, Waka Flocka last week in Fayetteville. Musselman said the 6-foot-4 hip-hop artist could help the Hogs with rebounding.

Snoop Dogg was in northwest Arkansas attending a show at JJ’s Live.

Here we go! Arkansas opens hoops season against Mercer

The 15th-ranked Arkansas basketball team opens its regular season Tuesday night against Mercer.

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The long wait is over. Basketball is back at the University of Arkansas.

Coach Eric Musselman and the Razorbacks open the regular season at Bud Walton Arena on Tuesday night against Mercer. The game is Arkansas’ first since falling to eventual national champion Baylor in the Elite Eight a year ago.

The Razorbacks were picked by the league’s media to finish third in the SEC. Arkansas finished second last year with a 13-4 conference record. Mercer was picked fourth in the Southern Conference, generally a one-bid league. The Bears did receive a first-place vote.

The No. 15 team in the Ferris Mower Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll, Arkansas returns starters Jaylin Williams in the frontcourt and Devo Davis in the backcourt. Davis was named preseason All-SEC second team, while last year’s sixth-man, guard JD Notae, was a preseason All-SEC first-team selection. The Hogs also return 7-foot-3 center Connor Vanover, who started a majority of Arkansas’ games in the first half of the season.

But this year is more about the newcomers. Transfers Stanley Umude (swingman from South Dakota), Chris Lykes (guard from Miami), Au’Diese Toney (wing from Pittsburgh), Jaxson Robinson (wing from Texas A&M), Kamani Johnson (forward from Little Rock) and Trey Wade (forward from Wichita State) all arrive with potential in the Arkansas rotation.

Felipe Haase, a 6-foot-9, 253-pound forward, is Mercer’s best returner and an All-Southern Conference preseason selection. Haase averaged 12 points and 7.6 rebounds a game last year. Mercer finished seventh last year in the 10-team SoCon.

Tipoff is at 7 p.m. in the Basketball Palace of Mid-America. The game can be seen on SEC Network+ through your cable, satellite or streaming provider.

Two CBS Sports analysts pick Hogs to win SEC, vote Eric Musselman Coach of the Year

No team in the SEC had more first-place predictions among CBS’ panel than Arkansas.

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CBS Sports, which has been considered the network home of college basketball for more than four decades, released its expert analyst predictions about the SEC earlier this week and Arkansas sits awfully high.

Gary Parrish and Kyle Boone tabbed the Razorbacks to win the SEC, while David Cobb has Arkansas second, Jerry Palm has the Hogs third and Matt Norlander pegs them fourth. The only team to receive as many first-place votes as Arkansas was defending regular-season champion Alabama. Tennessee picked up a first-place vote from Palm.

The Associated Press preseason Top 25 was similar. The Crimson Tide are ranked 14th, Arkansas is 16th and the Volunteers are 18th. Kentucky is the highest-ranked team at No. 10, but nary a CBS analyst picked the Wildcats as the top team in the league. Two picked them as second, but two others picked them fourth.

Musselman was named Preseason Coach of the Year by the panel as a whole. He is injected at least six new faces into the expected rotation this year, three of whom could be starters.

“There will be a lot of new faces contributing at Arkansas this season — but the results should be similar and cause Bud Walton Arena to be one of college basketball’s best environments,” Parrish wrote.

Arkansas, fresh off an Elite Eight appearance – its deepest run in 25 years, begins the 2021-22 regular season Tuesday at Bud Walton Arena against Mercer.

Arkansas squeezes past North Texas

The Razorbacks played an exhibition against a Conference USA opponent, with portions of the proceeds going to COVID relief.

Arkansas needed a opponent the caliber of North Texas before opening regular season play.

On Saturday at Bud Walton Arena, the Razorbacks were able to dispatch the Mean Green, 68-60.

JD Notae led all scorers with 21 points, while Chris Lykes had 14 and Stanley Umude contributed 12.

Arkansas was without Jaylin Williams in the contest, which probably led to UNT outrebounding the Hogs 42-28.

Defensively was where Arkansas showed it had made the most improvement, limiting the Mean Green to just 4 of 26 shooting from the perimeter.

Davonte ‘Devo’ Davis got in early foul trouble and only scored 7 points, playing with four fouls the majority of the second half.

Now Eric Musselman gets more than a week to prepare for the season opener against Mercer on November 9.

 

The 5-foot-7 Chris Lykes is adjusting to Hogs basketball

Chris Lykes may have started in the doghouse a bit, but he’s come in for Arkansas basketball in the last month.

Chris Lykes is an easy man to spot on the Arkansas basketball court. Look for the smallest guy out there.

The 5-foot-7 graduate transfer from Miami (FL) was a star with the Hurricanes and was considered one of the best players in the transfer portal. Arkansas considered it a coup when it landed him as he’s shown his size isn’t a hindrance, but a bonus.

Still, Razorbacks coach Eric Musselman had said Lykes’ transition from Miami to Arkansas had been rocky. He averaged 15 points a game or more in each of his last three seasons in south Florida. But there he was practically required to be a primary scorer.

That isn’t the case at Arkansas.

“The attention to detail is really new for Chris,” Musselman said a month ago. “I think he’s at his best when he’s just kind of balling or just playing. We’re going to need him to know the plays at the off guard and the point guard position. He’s not there right now understanding the third and fourth option at both those positions.”

Arkansas has a pair of top guards. JD Notae is a similarly styled player and has already spent a couple years in the system. He’s also a preseason All-SEC first-teamer. Devo Davis runs the point and was named preseason All-SEC second-team earlier this week. As it stands, Lykes is the third guard and likely the first off the bench for either one of those players.

Musselman’s marks were a month ago. Since, the Hogs have played both their public intra-squad scrimmage and their first exhibition game. Lykes had 14 on 6 of 10 shooting in the former and 13 points with two assists and two steals in the latter.

Davis has been impressed with how far his elder teammate has come in a month.

“He’s adapting really well, I can tell you that,” Davis said. “From when he first stepped on campus to now, his motor has changed, his demeanor of the game has changed. You could really tell if you were at practice. You can tell in a game, as well.”

Arkansas avoids upset against East Central

Arkansas could have easily found itself in the loss column after its first exhibition Sunday, but came back and won at Bud Walton Arena.

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One casual look at the box score from Sunday afternoon’s exhibition in Bud Walton Arena would indicate that Arkansas should have likely lost to Division II East Central University.

The Tigers, who hail from Ada, Okla., held a 37-35 halftime lead and actually enjoyed a double digit cushion at times in the second half before the Razorbacks closed with a flourish and eventually won 77-74.

Arkansas, which opened 16th in the Associated Press Top 25, obviously has some kinks it needs to work out before next Saturday’s final exhibition with North Texas and definitely before the season opener Nov. 9 against Mercer.

“Offensively, they came out in the first half and wanted it more than we did,” Arkansas forward Au’Diese Toney said. “We played too relaxed.”

The Razorbacks also shot the ball terribly as a whole, finishing 44 percent from the field but 13 percent from behind the arc.

They also only made 59 percent of their opportunities from the charity stripe (17 of 29).

“We left a lot of points at the line,” Toney said.

Eric Musselman was truly puzzled in his postgame press conference as to what transpired.

“Behind closed doors, we have not seen the lack of shooting like we did today,” Musselman said. “I was astonished at the lack of physical conditioning that we exhibited early.”

The lack of someone emerging as the primary ball handler is also perplexing Musselman.

“Our point guard play is a concern right now,” Musselman said.

Devo Davis led Arkansas with 20 points while JD Notae had 17. Chris Lykes, the transfer from Miami, had 13 off the bench while Toney, a Pittsburgh transfer, had 10 points and a game-high 15 rebounds.

Arkansas will be back in action on Saturday. Tipoff against the Mean Green is slated for 4 p.m.

Hogs basketball checks in at No. 15 in the preseason KenPom rankings

Arkansas basketball finds itself at No. 15 in the most important rankings of the college hoops season.

The official Top 25 for college basketball won’t be released for several more days. But to insiders of the game, the KenPom rankings hold more weight.

Ken Pomeroy, the college basketball analyst and statistician, released his preseason rankings of 358 teams based for the 2021-22 season on Sunday. Arkansas found itself at No. 15.

The Razorbacks are the second highest rated team in the SEC after Tennessee at No. 13. Other SEC teams in the Top 30 include Kentucky at 17, Alabama at 19, Florida at 25 and Auburn at 28.

Arkansas plays Auburn, Alabama, Florida and Kentucky once apiece this year and gets Tennessee twice during SEC play. It’s a very favorite schedule for the Razorbacks, who finished second in the conference last year with a 25-7 and 13-4 record. No team in the league went further into the NCAA Tournament than the Hogs, who made the Elite Eight before falling to eventual national champion Baylor.

Gonzaga, Michigan, Kansas and Baylor were the top four teams in the KenPom rankings.

Coach Eric Musselman and the Hogs played in the Red-White scrimmage at Barnhill Arena on Sunday afternoon, giving the public its first look at the team this season.

Arkansas basketball has No. 2 recruiting class in the country

Arkansas basketball coach Eric Musselman has the Razorbacks back as one of the absolute teams in the nation.

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Eric Musselman has done it again.

The Arkansas basketball coach last season led Arkansas to its best season in 25 years. When the Top 25 rankings come out for 2021-22 later this fall, the Hogs will almost assuredly be in. CBS Sports already has Musselman’s team at No. 17 in their ranking of every team in Division I.

But it doesn’t appear to be stopping there.

Five-star wing Jordan Walsh, the No. 27 recruit in the Class of 2022, committed to play for Arkansas on Thursday night. He joins fellow 5-star and No. 9 recruit Nick Smith (Little Rock) and three four-star recruits in Derrian Ford, Barry Dunning and Joseph Pinion, all top 100 players, too.

With such highly-rated players, 247Sports has Arkansas’ class as the second best in the country, trailing only Duke with its three five-star recruits.

Muss, as he’s affectionately known in Razorbacks Nation, appears to have the Hogs back in the spot they were in throughout the early and mid 1990s: Arkansas is officially a powerhouse.

Arkansas deserves it in the sport. While football may be mid-pack in the SEC, there is no reason the Razorbacks can’t be, at worst, the second best team in the league, year-in and year-out.

Bud Walton Arena remains one of the best places in the country to watch a college basketball game. The fans, you fans, show no matter who the Hogs are playing. Even in the slightly above-average years of Mike Anderson, these Razorbacks made noise.

But now? Now the Muss bus is rolling and I don’t think it has any brakes.

Arkansas lands 5-star Smith Jr. late Wednesday

Nick Smith Jr. is staying home with the Razorbacks after a highly awaited decision was finally made on Wednesday in Little Rock.

Nick Smith, Jr., a 5-star prospect and the No. 6 player in the class of 2022 nationally, committed to Arkansas on Wednesday in front of friends, family and his teammates in Little Rock.

Smith Jr. is the highest-ranked player to ever pledge to the Razorbacks in the recruiting rankings era, which dates back to 2002.

He chose Arkansas over Alabama, Auburn and the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

After starring at Sylvan Hills High School, he elected to transfer to North Little Rock for his upcoming senior year.

Smith Jr. joins a class that now ranks third nationally behind Duke and Ohio State and just ahead of Kentucky and North Carolina, according to 247 Sports.

Other members of the class include Morrilton’s Joseph Pinion and Magnolia’s Derrian Ford, along with Alabama native Barry Dunning.

It is safe to say the coaching staff at Arkansas was elated about the commitment, based on the social media reaction following his announcement.

Smith Jr. is the most decorated in-state prospect to choose the Hogs since Corliss Williamson stayed home in 1992. He is also the highest-rated prospect to commit since Bobby Portis in 2013.

 

Arkansas hoping to secure commitment of Smith later today

Nick Smith Jr. is announcing his college decision later today in Little Rock. Eric Musselman and staff are hoping he puts on a Hog hat.

5-star guard Nick Smith, Jr. is finally making his college decision today.

The Sherwood native, who climbed to No. 6 in ESPN’s recruiting rankings for the class of 2022, would be the highest-ranked player to ever commit to Arkansas and the most heralded since Corliss Williamson in 1992.

Smith will be making his decision in front of family and friends at 7 p.m. this evening.

Smith would join an in-state class of Morrilton 4-star small forward Joseph Pinion and Magnolia 4-star combo guard Derrian Ford.

4-star forward Barry Dunning of Mobile, Ala. is also in the class.

Eric Musselman and his staff are also hoping to secure the commitment of 5-star forward Jordan Walsh, who recently transferred to Link Year Prep in Branson, Mo., just a two-hour drive from campus.