re: Arkansas Basketball Recruiting Thread *Muss Years Archive - do NOT delete*

If JWill is back then I bet the twins bounce.

Agreed. Them coming may have been contingent on him staying in the draft I guess

Matthew Mayer from Baylor?

Twins may be going professional overseas??

Council IV supposedly on commit watch.

quote:

---

Twins moving to walk-ons via NIL deals is the latest scenario I’ve seen floated.

---

That would be quite a flex of our basketball resources

I think you can only dress 13 per Game, but you can have 15 on the roster (13+2 Walkons).

In that case, some scholarship player is going to be extremely pissed when they don't even dress in favor of a "walkon."

I have to assume, though, this is because Kamani and Jax really can't transfer again b/c they just came in last year and can't move on again easily.

LINK

quote:

---

Final Top 150 basketball player rankings for 2022: Arkansas-bound Nick Smith soars up to No. 1

---

quote:

---

The final edition of 247Sports' ranking of the top 150 basketball prospects in the class of 2022 is complete.

It's only fitting that we close the ranking of this outgoing senior class with a new No. 1 player, Arkansas-bound combo guard Nick Smith. After all, the top of the rankings has been a virtual revolving door that as of today has seen five different players hold the top spot.

Just a little under a year ago, Emoni Bates was overtaken for the top spot by his grassroots teammate Jalen Duren. They each enrolled early at Memphis, clearing the way for shooting guard Shaedon Sharpe to take the top spot. Sharpe then enrolled early himself, clearing the way for another guy who played with Bates and Duren on Team Final – Dereck Lively II – to take control of the top spot. Now Smith takes the No. 1 spot as his own. jumping up from No. 5.

Why is Smith No. 1? What could the class of 2022 have looked like without reclassification and who were the movers and shakers during the final update to the rankings?

Let's dive into it.

---

quote:

---

ARKANSAS SIGNEE NICK SMITH TAKES THE TOP SPOT

---

quote:

---

Smith's ascension to the top spot has been a steady and continuous once since he first entered the rankings as a top 40 player in September of 2019. It has only been up from there as the 6-foot-4 combo guard at North Little Rock (Ark.) High has methodically picked off and passed those ahead of him.

By November of 2020 Smith had cracked the top 25. He moved into the top 10 in September of 2021, made the top five earlier this year and now, he stands above the rest in his class.

“It’s cool, I mean I’ve never really been the No. 1 player in the nation before,” Smith told 247Sports. “It’s been a good journey for me to show my talent on the court and it is definitely a blessing to see somebody think that I’m the No. 1 player in the class.”

So, what makes Smith No. 1? Today’s game dictates that guards must be capable of generating their own offense. Whether it be out of pick and roll action, with a shot clock winding down or just a situation where guy needs to go and make a play, if a guard can’t generate offense on their own, their ceiling will be limited. Smith can do all of that and he does it with an electric first step, bounce at the rim and some flair.

Add in that he can score from deep, is just starting to grow into his long and lean frame and is an absolute sponge for soaking up knowledge about the game and you have a guy that 247Sports is banking on long term. Certainly, Smith has the mindset to match his new ranking and he’s going to carry it onto the floor with him from here on out.

“Every time I step on the floor, I feel like I’m the best player there and that’s just the mindset that my dad always brought me up on,” said Smith. “Where I grew up, you were either going to kill or you were going to be eaten. So going into the game with that killer mentality and knowing the game of basketball and playing good basketball is one of the things that I try to go in with each time.”

---

LINK

quote:

---

The rise of the Arkansas Razorbacks

---

quote:

---

If you haven't been paying attention to Eric Musselman and the Arkansas Razorbacks then you have no choice but to take notice as the Razorback fanbase is going to be one of - if not the loudest - fanbases in the country over the next ten-months.

The 247Sports Top150 has officially received its final update as the senior class rides off into the sunset and Musselman and his staff have secured not only their best recruiting class in school history but also their highest ranked recruit in the modern online recruiting service era in Nick Smith Jr. - the newly minted No. 1 overall player in the country.

Not only is this Arkansas program storming into the off-season with a No. 2 overall recruiting class and No. 1 overall player but they are also coming off back-to-back Elite Eight appearances after having not been to the second weekend of the tournament since 1996.

The Muss Bus is rolling and his raucous fanbase is going to let you know that they're headed your way.

It was just three seasons ago when Arkansas made a coaching change from Mike Anderson to Musselman. In the five years prior to the Musselman takeover, Arkansas held just one recruiting class ranked inside the Top-30 according to the 247Sports Composite Team Rankings.

When the change occurred in the spring of 2019, Arkansas' high school recruiting class may not jump off the page but Musselman did his thing and reeled in what turned out to be a monster portal class which included SEC star JD Notae.

After hitting it big in the portal to enter their first season, they got to work in their first full recruiting cycle landing a Top-10 class in 2020 and wasting no time in making history by producing the program's first ever one-and-done in Moses Moody out of Montverde (Fla.) Academy.

Historically, the state of Arkansas has produced top tier talent fairly regularly and getting that talent away from the Razorbacks has proven to be very difficult and honestly the 2022 class in Arkansas played into their hands as they were able to keep three Top150 prospects home in Smith, Joseph Pinion and Derrian Ford.

However, bringing in talent from out-of-state had been a challenge but Musselman has quickly found solutions to that problem not only through the portal but now has used his NBA experience, the resources and the fanbase to attract the top talent in the country.

Along with his in-state standouts, Musselman was able to go into neighboring states in some heavyweight battles to pull out a pair five-stars from Texas in Anthony Black and Jordan Walsh and also slide over to Alabama to pull out Barry Dunning from Mobile.

Muss mania is spreading and the sleeping giant Arkansas athletic program is awake.

They may not be your typical powerhouse program but a school with their resources, their picking of the high school talent in-state, an avenue to additional talent through the portal, a growing presence nationally and a massive fanbase that is as passionate and energetic as Musselman himself is going to make Arkansas basketball as prevalent as it has been in nearly 25 years.

---