Eric Musselman brags on his four Rivals150 signees
Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman and his staff signed the No.9-ranked class in the nation by Rivals and added two more graduate transfers for the 2020 season. Musselman was tasked with keeping a packed in-state class of talent together and he delivered with four of the state's five prospects ranked in the Rivals top 150.
Needless to say, the first-year head hog was very pleased with the class and how the staff worked to complete it.
"I think that a lot of hard work went in by the entire staff, you know, to be able to get you know all four really good guys," Musselman said Monday after KK Robinson's NLI came through. "Guys that wanted to be a part of the Razorback family. Players that played all different positions for the most part. Just a really, really exciting recruiting class for us, especially our “first” class. We as a staff, as a program are absolutely thrilled."
Due to NCAA rules, up until now, Musselman hasn't been able to refer to his new players by name despite their commitments almost five months ago. He went in depth on what he believes all his high school signees bring to the table.
Starting with the highest ranked signee, Moses Moody...
“I think just his ability to be a three-level scorer. I think that we loved his size at 6-6. He’s done an incredible job of adding strength and weight. He’s up to 200 pounds now. He’s an extremely underrated offensive rebounder, I think with his stuff around the rim with his flip shots. We all know he’s a great 3-point shooter. His 3-point percentage at Montverde tells you that. We know he’s a very very good free-throw shooter, his percentages tell you that. I think he can be a very good defender with his length. I think he’ll be an excellent rebounder at that small forward/off-guard spot. So, just his versatility. I know for sure what a great teammate he is, how unselfish he is and how he plays the game the right way. He’s got a very high basketball IQ."
"We feel like he can play a few different positions. We don’t think that he’s a one-position player. Certainly, his ability as a passer, his willingness as a passer, makes him even more than an intriguing prospect. He always calls back or texts back, he’s very engaging. Both his parents are excited about him coming to Arkansas.
"Defensively, I know on that senior night I think it was 31 seconds he had an incredible shot block. They go down on the other end and there is an offensive possession. They come back, and the opposing team has an opportunity to tie the game or win it. He does an incredible job of coming over from the weakside. He takes a charge. This was after the possession before that he blocked the shot. I’d say that 10 out of 11 players would have come over and tried to block the shot again because he was coming off a blocked shot the possession before. But, he took the blow, he took the shot in the middle of the chest. Two game-winning plays at the defensive end. That particular night, those two plays stuck out to me as winning plays in a big game with a great crowd."
"KK, one, he’s a great competitor. Very serious-minded about the game. Really good speed with the basketball. Really unselfish. I mean, when I watched him at Oak Hill he played with some guys who could really score the ball. And he was perfectly content to make his teammates better, to share the ball. He’s got great court vision. He’s really good in transition. He’s a point guard who’s a facilitator. Then defensively he can put great pressure on the ball. He can pick up in the backcourt and turn ball handlers. I think he’s a guy that he’s really good at advance passes. That’s the one thing that when different staff members went to watch him practice at Oak Hill was his ability to lead transition points, both off the bounce and off of advance passes."
"Devo, Davonte Davis, is a guy that can play both guard spots and has great length. A guy that’s been committed and excited all the back from November. And somebody that’s got great pride in being a Razorback player. We love Devo’s ability to be both a playmaker and a scorer at all three levels. He is an elite free throw attempt player and does a great job finishing through contact. From a defensive perspective, Devo will add a long, athletic defender that can guard multiple positions.
“He is an exhilarating, exciting point guard that Hog fans will love to watch and teammates will love to play with him.”