Arkansas basketball head coach Eric Musselman has earned the reputation of being a transfer portal guru during his time spent in the college ranks.
However, when you look at his time in Fayetteville, it becomes pretty clear that Musselman has a knack for recruiting ultra-talented high school players as well.
The two most recent examples come in freshman guard Layden Blocker and freshman center Baye Fall, who were both rated as four-star prospects according to Rivals.
Between Arkansas' Red-White scrimmage, the exhibition against UT Tyler and the exhibition against No. 3 Purdue, Blocker combined to shoot 7-17 (41%) from the field with 21 points. He looked especially impressive against Purdue, when he collected six points and one assist in just 7:52 minutes of game time.
"Layden, I think in the minutes he's been given, he's done a great job," Musselman said on Wednesday. "He's got great toughness, he's kind of fearless. He's a really good defensive ball pressure guy. He can pick up full-court. I think offensively, he's done a really good job of trying to facilitate as well as being aggressive to score the ball, as well."
Though Fall didn't receive any playing time against Purdue, he did shoot a combined 5-8 between the Red-White game and the exhibition against UT Tyler. In total, he recorded 13 points and nine rebounds. Musselman explained the reasoning behind Fall not playing against Purdue.
"We sent Baye down to the scorer's table at one point, and then there's a matchup where we wanted to stick with what we had, so we had him come back down," Musselman said. "But Baye has done a great job in practice. He's a worker. It was just a situation where Chandler Lawson was really following the gameplan, and it was hard to take him out based on the way that he was defending Edey.
"Then obviously Khi did a great job too, although the five fouls in 18 minutes. Between those two, those guys ate up the center spot, and then we went with some guards as well. A couple of guards got minutes at the four-spot, and we played the rotation fairly large for us as is."
When you look at the box score for the Arkansas-Purdue exhibition match, it's littered with experienced guards and big men for the Razorbacks. While both freshmen have looked promising up to this point — especially Blocker — they'll have to become more consistent if they want to find themselves with more playing time during the upcoming season.
"Yeah, I think that there's always an adjustment for freshmen across the country, especially in our league, just like there's an adjustment in the NBA," Musselman said. "You look at some NBA rookies, and they're playing a lot. And then you look at some other NBA rookies, and they're not playing a lot. You look at some NBA rookies, and they're assigned to G-League teams, and other NBA rookies are learning by sitting on the bench and watching, getting better during practice and growing.
"So, I think every player is on his own timeline, and every organization in the NBA is on their own timeline, and just like every college program, there's a different timeline. The one thing with both of our freshmen and all six of our freshmen last year, that whole group of guys have been incredible workers. Baye and Layden have great competitive nature and really, really work on their craft. They work in the weight room, so they're going to keep getting better as the season progresses."
Of course, not having to rely on freshman is a plus for Musselman and the Razorbacks. Go-to playmakers like Tramon Mark, El Ellis, Davonte Davis and Khalif Battle give the Arkansas basketball program the opportunity to develop the young guys so they can be ready later down the road.
"I think when you're on a good team, or deep team, there are pluses and then there are areas where a player has to continue to learn and grow in," Musselman said. "Practices, game preps and all those things are obviously new for any freshman. It's no different than all of our rookies in the NBA.
"The game preps they are going through are going to be slightly different than the way they were done at Arkansas because there are so many more games coming at you. For us, we want all of our guys to try and continue to get better every single day."
Blocker and Fall will without a doubt get to play this season, and likely in crucial moments. But it will be important for them to seize the chance to learn from the older players ahead of them.
Guys like the aformentioned Mark, Ellis, Davis and Battle can teach Blocker a lot about the game and maintaining composure. For Fall, he can learn from players like Makhi Mitchell, Jalen Graham, or the Preseason All-SEC First Team forward Trevon Brazile.
"I think that you always want to have veterans that are willing to share with younger guys," Musselman said. "I love to reference stuff that I've seen in the pros. There's a lot of veterans who last a long time in the NBA because they're great mentors to rookies. Yes, El Ellis has done a great job of helping Layden.
"All these guys, they are still in competition with teammates, no different than any sport at any leve, but I do think that this year’s group of veteran players or upperclassmen have done a really good job of trying to help mentor both of our younger guys.
"This year's group does a phenomenal job. They do a great job just leading by example, let alone just getting in guys years as well. Certainly leading by example is a great way to mentor a younger player."
Arkansas fans will get their first opportunity to see Blocker, Fall and the rest of the Hoop Hogs in official game action when they tip off against Alcorn State next Monday in the season opener. The game is set to start at 7:00 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on SEC Network Plus.
