Before this college basketball series tipped off in the midst of a pandemic, I threw out there that this was the best and most talented Arkansas Razorback men’s basketball team I’d ever seen on paper. Sure, there was plenty of hype to support the claim: multiple returning starters were boosted by a Top 5 recruiting class and five experienced transfers became eligible to play for the team. Little did I know that the season would culminate in an Elite Eight appearance, but I can’t say that I was surprised. The effect is massive. This season’s Razorback team changed the entire complexion of the program and put it firmly on the map yet again.

This was a complete and total team effort. In the NCAA Tournament, in each of the three games the team won, they trailed by double digits. Coaching was a firm difference-maker. Arkansas has had many coaches in the years from Nolan Richardson to Eric Musselman, but I’m not sure any would come up with the tweaks and adjustments that Musselman cooked up. In the first round against Colgate, after going down by as many as 14 points with just over three minutes left in the first half, Muss went back to previous teams of Razorbacks lore and turned up the pressure, opting to go with a full-court press to speed up a Colgate team that had been roasting them in the halfcourt. Soon enough, the Hogs went into the locker room at halftime with a lead and didn’t look back. During the second-round game against Texas Tech, freshman big man Jaylin Williams struggled to keep up with Texas Tech’s size and versatility at the beginning of the game, yet Muss went back to him at the end of the first half. By the time the second half came around, so did Williams, who provided a big spark during the second half and helped the Razorbacks overcome another double-digit deficit (this one ‘only’ a 10 point hole). Then in the Sweet 16, Arkansas switched and trapped Oral Roberts star Max Abmas all game and held him to a respectable 25 points on 19 shots with five turnovers sprinkled in and routinely made him work defensively. 

But of course, the coaches aren’t the ones actually playing. The players are the ones that actually need to execute out on the floor, and when it came to nut-cutting time, this Hogs team answered the call. Indiana transfer Justin Smith was the biggest catalyst in this regard, at least defensively. It was apparent at the end of the Texas Tech game while acting as the team’s small-ball center, he got switched onto Tech’s Kyler Edwards & contested Edwards’ drive with the clock dwindling to zero to prevent the game from being extended an additional five minutes to hold off the Red Raiders. Offensively, Smith is not one to go get you a bucket, but he is a super-smart cutter and great above-the-rim finisher. Any time attention was paid to Arkansas’ litany of guards Smith would jet to the rim and get himself an easy dunk. In addition to his defensive versatility and offensive IQ, Smith was massive on the glass to make up for Arkansas’ size differential. Acting as the team’s center despite only 6’7” 230 pounds to his frame, Smith averaged just below 10 rebounds during the team’s NCAA Tournament run. Smith finished the season averaging 7.3 rebounds per game before the Hogs’ season came to a halt at the hands of the Baylor Bears. Despite a team being loaded with talent at almost every position, Smith was easily the team’s most important and indispensable player. I’ve been pounding the table for him to get NBA looks (which it looks like he’s finally getting that respect) because of how valuable and important he was to this Hogs team defensively. Let’s hope a team overlooks his shooting (just a 24.7% career three-point shooter on a limited number of attempts), which could ultimately do him in as the league looks for more and more shooting from its role players, and finds him a spot on a roster because he’s more than deserving and is ready to help a team from the get-go.

The contributions did not stop there. Though star freshman Moses Moody did not have a stellar NCAA Tournament run (he averaged just 13 points per game on 32.6% shooting from the field), Moody’s play over the course of the entire season showed he’ll still be a likely lottery pick in July’s NBA Draft. Moody is already a great shooter and projects to be an elite one with proper NBA coaching and development to his disposal in the future. We saw a glimpse of how good a shooter he is against LSU in the SEC Semi-Finals, putting up 20 in the first half without hardly ever putting the ball on the floor. That isn’t to say Moody can’t create off the dribble either; Moody generated about one point per possession on pull-up jumpers in the halfcourt this season as a freshman. While the volume wasn’t there (mostly because Arkansas had plenty of playmakers and shot creators in their halfcourt), the efficiency was. Moody would do most of his damage on pull-up jumpers when getting the ball amidst a rotating defense after the threat of his jumper caused panic into the defense, forcing them to run Moody off the three-point line & make Moody hit a floater or a jumper inside the arc. Moody has a tough jab-step and a smooth handle to create separation on step-back threes too. As you can see, Moody has shown glimpses of being a bucket-getter in addition to being a lethal catch-and-shoot option, though he has some limitations that reared its head in the Tournament. His handle is good, not great. Moody is more finesse than a brute force player, meaning getting to the rim off the dribble is not exactly his forte. Moody kind of got beat up by bigger defenders too (Baylor’s guards really roughed him up). However, these are all areas Moody can improve upon, which I bet he will at the next level. Moody showed enough to me to at the very least be a kick-ass role player like Mikal Bridges in the NBA. I’m not going to put that ceiling on him though; maybe a baby Boston Celtics version of Ray Allen? That version of Allen did not rely on the athleticism he boasted at the beginning of his career the same way Moody does; both are roughly the same size. I believe Moody can get there. Sure it was disappointing Moody did not play to the fullest of his capabilities in the NCAA Tournament, but the fact Arkansas could have its first player selected in the lottery since Ronnie Brewer in 2006 is monumental for Moody to support himself and his family and show recruits around the country that Arkansas can help them get where they want to go: the NBA.

Numerous other Hogs players had their moments in the sun. Sweet Sixteen hero Davonte Davis drilled arguably the biggest shot in Arkansas Razorbacks Men’s Basketball history since Hog legend Scotty Thurman gave the Razorbacks the lead in the 1994 National Championship against the dreaded Duke Blue Devils. Not only that, but Davis was maybe the biggest catalyst in erasing Arkansas’ deficit in the first-round matchup against Colgate too with his tenacious defense. Davis always seems to find the ball and the ball tends to always find him. He has a very good feel as a passer as well and his midrange prowess as well as a sturdy 75.6% free-throw percentage suggests his range could extend out beyond the three-point arc too. Davis, along with Northern Kentucky transfer Jalen Tate, also received a majority of the assignment against Max Abmas in the Sweet 16 too and held up well. Arkansas repeatedly went to Tate to post-up the smaller Abmas down the stretch of that Sweet 16 classic and he held up his end of the bargain time-and-time again (this forced Oral Roberts to put a bigger defender on him at the end of the game and helped free up Davis to his game-winner). This wasn’t the first time Tate came up big in the clutch this season; he also managed to snag an offensive rebound amongst the trees and nail two free-throws to beat Kentucky at Rupp Arena. Sure, Kentucky had a down season, but that felt like a big moment in the Hogs’ season and Tate delivered when someone needed to. JD Notae was another transfer to make his debut for the team this season. Though Notae’s shot selection left a lot to be desired at times, his value as a bucket-getter was apparent all year long. JD Notae basically won the Hogs their SEC Quarterfinals matchup against Missouri and was the one guard who felt comfortable creating against Baylor’s stout defense in the Elite Eight matchup. Unfortunately, foul trouble and a questionable charge call that college referees seem contractually obligated to call forced him out of that game with just under 14 minutes to play. Not that the call was the reason the Hogs lost (Davion Mitchell’s foul trouble kept the Hogs in it, and his play, once he came back, catapulted the Bears to victory), but those 15 minutes Notae spent on the court highlighted his value to the squad. Unlike Smith and Tate, who came to the team as grad transfers, Notae still has another year of eligibility to make another run with the Hogs.

Last year, after I attended a Razorbacks game against Auburn before the world caught on fire in more ways than one, I wrote about the state of the program and my hopes for the future. Part of that article included this note:

“This year is a bit of a transition year for the Hogs. This is the first year of Musselman at the helm after taking over for Mike Anderson. Not only is he implementing a new modern style of play for the state of basketball today, but he’s also instilling a culture for the players of tomorrow. This is especially important because one of the best Razorback recruiting classes of all-time is coming into the fold next season. Montverde Academy star and Little Rock native Moses Moody (part of what some say is one of the best high school teams ever) is the headliner, alongside fellow Arkansas natives KK Robinson, Davonte Davis, and Jaylin Williams. Musselman has gotten the most of a team without a lot of premier talent; all four of these players are in ESPN’s Top 100. On top of that, transfers Connor Vanover (California) and JD Notae (Stetson) will all be eligible as well, and there’s a non-zero chance both Mason Jones and Isaiah Joe forego the NBA to make a run next season. Guard Desi Sills will probably be back as well. Next season is the first one Musselman can really mold into his own image and will have plenty of talent and versatile players to do so with.”

Safe to say, that came true. This year’s team set the standard for Arkansas teams of the future. Jalen Tate even said as much. Though the ending isn’t what Hogs fans yearned for, this ride this year’s wonky, COVID-filled adventure took them on was one that will never be forgotten. One that revitalized and woke-up what once was a perennial powerhouse. Hopefully now gone are the days of homegrown in-state leaving the state for bigger programs. Arkansas is now on the map again. This year’s team proved it and has the pieces to keep it going for as long as they want it to.