Arkansas Razorbacks
2021-2022 Overall Rank: #15
Conference Rank: #3 SEC
Arkansas is back. After a couple decades of occasional NCAA Tournaments, the Razorbacks earned a three seed in last year’s tournament and reached the Elite Eight. That was the program’s deepest run since the mid-90’s when Nolan Richardson was leading the Razorbacks to back-to-back national title games. Coach Eric Musselman deserves a ton of credit for quickly rebuilding the program, but now he has some reloading to do with three starters gone.
2020-21 Record: 25-7, 13-4
2020-21 Postseason: NCAA
Coach: Eric Musselman
Coach Record: 45-19 at Arkansas, 155-53 overall
Key Departed Players:
Moses Moody, Guard, 16.8 ppg
Justin Smith, Forward, 13.6 ppg
Jalen Tate, Guard, 11.0 ppg
Desi Sills, Guard, 7.5 ppg
Vance Jackson Jr, Forward, 3.8 ppg
Ethan Henderson, Forward, 1.2 ppg
Key Returning Players:
JD Notae, Senior, Guard, 12.8 ppg
Davonte Davis, Sophomore, Guard, 8.5 ppg
Connor Vanover, Junior, Forward, 6.3 ppg
Jaylin Williams, Sophomore, Forward, 3.7 ppg
Khalen Robinson, Sophomore, Guard, 2.6 ppg
Key New Players:
Au’Diese Toney, Senior, Guard, Transfer from Pitt
Cade Arbogast, Sophomore, Guard, JC Transfer
Chance Moore, Freshman, Guard
Chris Lykes, Senior, Guard, Transfer from Miami (FL)
Jaxson Robinson, Sophomore, Guard, Transfer from Texas A&M
Kamani Johnson, Junior, Forward, Transfer from Little Rock
Lawson Blake, Freshman, Forward
Stanley Umude, Senior, Guard, Transfer from South Dakota
Trey Wade, Senior, Forward, Transfer from Wichita State
Projection:
JD Notae is the team’s lone returning double digit scorer. He came off the bench and earned the SEC’s Sixth Man of the Year honors behind 12.8 points per game. Sophomore Davonte Davis proved to be an efficient scorer inside the arc and added 8.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.2 steals. Chris Lykes, a transfer from Miami, will add another ball handler, who can shoot the ball, to the roster. He averaged 15.4 points and 2.4 assists with the Hurricanes two years ago before missing most of last season with an injury. Au’Diese Toney comes from Pittsburgh where he used his 6-6 frame to attack the basket and averaged 14.4 points per game as a junior in 2020-2021. Stanley Umude tallied 21.6 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists playing at South Dakota last year. He is a big 6-6 guard who can score inside and out. Jaxon Robinson played 14 games at Texas A&M as a freshman and will add even more options on the perimeter. The frontcourt returns Connor Vanover and Jaylin Williams. Williams is a very promising sophomore who struggled to find his groove last year thanks to an injury. If he can be consistent, Arkansas will have the option to play bigger at times instead of the four guards Coach Musselman has been running most of the time.
Projected Postseason Tournament: NCAA
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 81.4 (11th in nation, 2nd in conference)
Scoring Defense: 70.8 (189, 8)
Field-Goal Percentage: 45.1 (100, 5)
Field-Goal Defense: 41.5 (70, 5)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 7.3 (169, 5)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 33.2 (196, 7)
Free-Throw Percentage: 74.0 (68, 4)
Rebound Margin: 4.0 (57, 3)
Assists Per Game: 14.6 (80, 4)
Turnovers Per Game: 12.9 (151, 3)
Madness 2021 Men’s Basketball Recruit Rankings:
#90 Chance Moore
