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

It just hit me what Muss is actually doing here.

He knows he's not going to play 12, 10, or maybe even 9 guys) consistently, but what he's done now, is set himself up with the ability to basically run any variation of scout team he can imagine.


This is especially going to be valuable in March Madness.

He will be able to simulate basically anything anyone can throw at him, and do it with a second team squad that would basically be a top 25 squad on its own.


I think the Duke game really did this to him. He flat out said in the days after the game that they couldn't even simulate what Duke was going to do to them in practice.

Well...now they can...

Exactly. Now they have 2 near 7' true centers on the team to simulate opposing big men, plus a plethora of guards and wings and SFs.

LINK

quote:

---

Ricky Council IV, the 2022 American Athletic Conference Sixth Man of the Year, will be a member of the 2022-23 Arkansas men’s basketball program, head coach Eric Musselman announced today.

Council – a 6-6, 240-pound guard – played two seasons at Wichita State and will have three years of eligibility remaining. He played in 49 games with nine starts at Wichita and scored 458 points (9.9 avg) with 223 rebounds (4.6 avg), 65 assists, 38 steals and 17 blocked shots. He shot 43.2 percent (161-373) from the field, 33.9 percent (38-112) from 3-point and 77.6 percent (125-161) from the line.

Council was teammates with Trey Wade at Wichita State in 2020-21. The duo helped the Shockers win the AAC regular-season title and earn an NCAA Tournament berth.

---

quote:

---

Ricky Council IV
6-6, 204, G, Jr.
Durham, N.C. / Southern Durham HS / Wichita State

---

quote:

---

2021-22 (Sophomore at Wichita State):
Voted the AAC Sixth Man of the Year … Started eight of the 28 games but he ranked second on the team in scoring 12.0 points, tops among AAC reserves … He led the team in scoring 10 times, including eight of the last 12 games … Scored in double figures in 17 games, including three with 20-plus points, and had 17 games with at least five rebounds, including two double-digit efforts … Averaged 5.4 rebounds and was second on the team with 32 steals … Led the team in rebounding three times and assists twice … Made 84.9% (90-of-106) of his free throws to rank third in the AAC (63rd in the NCAA) … Made 54-of-62 at the line over his final 12 games including a 16-of-20 effort vs UCF … 16 makes ties for 3rd on the school’s single-game lest and 20 attempts is third … Made the AAC Honor Roll three times … First (Jan. 31) scored a career-high, 31-point effort in an 84-79 win over UCF … Scored 22 points inside the final 11:08 and his 16 free throws made were the most by a Shocker in 59 years … Second (Feb. 7) as he scored 20 points (7-of-7 FT) with seven rebounds and three steals in a win over SMU … Third (Feb. 21) as he recorded a double-double (17 points and 10 rebounds in a two-points, overtime loss to Houston … His first career double-double came vs Tulane (Jan. 12) with 12 points and a career-high 15 rebounds (12 defensive) … Tallied a career-high six assists in 23, turnover-free minutes vs Norfolk State … In a win over Oklahoma State, hit five-straight shots, accounting for 12 of his team-high 17 points in the final 10 minutes to help WSU erase an eight-point deficit … Pumped in 20 points in the regular-season finale win over East Carolina.

2020-21 (Freshman at Wichita State):
Named to the AAC All-Freshman Team … Appeared in 21 of the 22 games with one start and averaged 7.1 points and 3.4 rebounds in 15.6 minutes per game … Made 12 3’s on 44 percent accuracy and was 35-of-55 at the foul line (.636) … Drew an average of 5.03 fouls-per-40-minutes … Was one of the league’s most impactful bench scorers, averaging 18.2 points-per-40-minutes (11th-best among AAC regulars) … One of just three players to average 20+ points-per-40 during AAC play, putting up 20.3 points over 13 conference contests … Earned AAC Freshman of the Week honors (Jan. 10) after scoring a season-high 23 points in 23 minutes against Cincinnati – the most points by a Shocker true freshman in nearly a dozen years … Was 8-of-11 from the field and 7-for-11 at the line with six rebounds versus the Bearcats … Scored 11 points in 17 minutes to key an upset of No. 6 Houston … Eight of those points came in the last six minutes of the first half, helping the Shockers erase a 12-point deficit … Had a breakthrough performance in the conference opener at Tulsa as he produced team-highs with 13 points and eight rebounds … Earned a spot on the Dec. 21 AAC Honor Roll by delivering another 13 points and eight boards in a weekend win over Emporia State … Made his first career start in his sixth career game against Newman and finished with eight points.

High School:
Three-star prospect, per Rivals and 247 Sports … No. 391 nationally in 247 Sports composite rankings and No. 18 in North Carolina … Third team all-state (all classes) and helped lead his team to North Carolina’s Class 3A state quarterfinals with a 22-6 record … District 6 Player of the Year … Averaged 23 points, 9.5 rebounds and 5 assists as a senior … Finished his career with more than 1,000 points … Coached by Greg Motley … Honor roll student and National Honor Society nominee who graduated among the top-10 of his class … Member of Team Felton on the Under Armor circuit in the summer of 2019 while playing for Coach Fred Cannon.

Personal:
Born Aug. 3, 2001 … Son of Rick and Ruth Council … Youngest of three boys, all named after their father … Oldest brother, Ricky Council II, played at Providence and UMBC … Ricky Council III, played junior college basketball at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M … Also has an older sister, Rhianna, who played at UNCG … Credits those older siblings for making him a tougher, more physical player – especially around the basket … Sport Management major.

---

LINK

quote:

---

Headed into the spring, Zayden High had big expectations.

A 6-foot-9 power forward from Texas who announced last week that he'll be playing at powerful Compass Prep in Arizona next season, High felt that he had been a bit overlooked and wanted to prove that he belonged among the nation's best in the class of 2023.

Now a few months into the grassroots season, High has been terrific for JL3 in Nike's EYBL and will rocket into the national rankings when they are updated next week. Despite the growing attention he remains focused on a team goal.

"I definitely expected to play well," High told 247Sports. "I came in with a chip on my shoulder because I thought I was underrated for sure. I came in with the chip and it has been working out for me as I'm trying to do what I need to do to help my team win games and get us to that ultimate goal of winning Peach Jam."

Over the last year, High has gone through a growth spurt. Formerly a wing with some skill and athleticism, he's blossomed into a four man who can face the rim, is above average on the glass and who can really run. Headed into the spring, his two most high profile offers were courtesy of Arkansas and Houston. Since late March others like Alabama, Colorado, Creighton, Kansas State, Missouri, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M and Wake Forest have jumped in.

"I do a little bit of everything," said High. "I can rebound, I score, play defense and do the dirty work. I do whatever I need to do or that my team needs me to do to win games.

"I am working on making better decisions, i can be there. The ultimate goal is making the NBA and getting to college at the highest level and trying to win a National Championship."

With so many new schools showing attention, the process can be daunting. High first wanted to get the process of picking a prep school out of the way and now he'll start to focus more on the new programs recruiting him. The first two high major offers from the Cougars and Razorbacks made an impression.

Arkansas: "Coach Muss, Coach Gus and all of them have been pretty good to me also. I talk to someone from Arkansas almost every day and they were one of the first ones so it is all love to them too."

Houston: "They had me come up there on an unofficial visit and man they were so good to me. Coach Sampson, both Sampsons really, they were really good and they've been on me since I was going into my sophomore year. They were one of the first to offer me so all love to them."

Moving forward, High will put together or more concrete plan and start to sort out who he'd like to visit. Right now, he's taking it all in, remaining focused on getting better and starting to develop in his mind what will be important in the decision making process.

"I'm kind of just going on the fly really," said High. "College is going to be there so I've just got to stay focused and stay the course.

"Coaching and player development are going to be really important. Then I'm looking to connect with the players that I will be playing with so that I know we'll have that comfort level with each other to be able to perform."

---

He's wanting to, but he's wanting a guarantee on everything. If I was an NBA team, I don't do that. In the NBA, Jaylin is gonna get manned up a lot. To me, he offers nothing defensively and he hasn't shown near versatility on the face up game or outside.

He's a great college big man, but that doesn't mean anything in the NBA. He won't be able to take charges nearly as much and will get called for a foul more often than not.

No offense to the kid. I love that he's a Hog, but I just don't see how his game translates to the NBA very well.

He needs a 3 point shot and he would be a first round lock.

Don't think there was any doubt he was going pro.

We will miss JWill.

Evidently Jwill has blown up at the combine. We all knew he was good. Scouts just now figuring it out now as well.