HawgBeat Hoops Mailbag: Postseason/Transfer Portal
Perhaps the most exhilarating portion of the Arkansas Razorbacks' basketball season comes after its conclusion with the transfer portal ramping up and players making their decisions to remain in Fayetteville, transfer somewhere else or explore professional opportunities.
With the team floundering for much of the season, the real excitement can begin for much of the fanbase, as hopes can skyrocket with all of the possibilities of players from across the country that will undoubtedly be contacted by the Arkansas coaching staff.
Equally as pressing as which players the staff might bring in is how many and which players might stay with the Razorbacks.
Continuing our HawgBeat mailbag series, we will touch on both of these hot-button topics, as well as a number of other issues the Razorback fanbase asked about. It seemed like the collective fanbase was all on the same wavelength for this mailbag, as nearly all of the questions were different variations of the same few topics.
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How many players will we see return next season?
This is perhaps the most difficult question to answer this offseason. There are plenty of reasons for different players to stay or leave, as I mentioned in the roster tracker piece, and at this point in time there is no way to know about every single player. Some players' futures are much clearer than others.
That being said, some assumptions can be made given certain players' roles, the lack of success on the team and the tough coaching style that head basketball coach Eric Musselman has. Some guys have done all they can at the collegiate level, some can/will look for a better situation, a fresh start or even just a place closer to home. Whatever the case may be, each player has their reasons to stay or go.
All in all, taking into account inside information and safe assumptions, I'd imagine Arkansas only returns two or three players from this year's roster at most. Which two or three, exactly, is a completely different story.
What will the expectations be for next year? - X (formerly Twitter) user @SteveMatthews12
A lot of the expectations will come down to how the portal haul goes (and how the above two questions shake out). I'll preface this question with two assumptions for the sake of making it easier to answer: Musselman is the coach and there are only a couple players returning.
If that's the case, Arkansas is looking at adding two freshmen who are talented in their own right and also around eight or nine players from the transfer portal. High major programs who added seven-plus players from the portal did not fair so well this year, as only one of eight made the NCAA Tournament. The lone exception is NC State, which earned the automatic bid by winning the ACC Tournament.
The anticipated roster turnover paired with so many new players again does not exactly paint a picture of optimism for fans coming off this past season. I'd imagine the portal class will be highly touted because it always has been under Musselman, but I'm not so sure there will be super high expectations for next season.
The goal should be to make the NCAA Tournament next year and work on anything beyond that when the time comes.
What stands out most about the guys Arkansas has targeted in the portal so far? - X (formerly Twitter) user @BroMattPaul
They've only targeted five so far, but what stands out is that they seem to be veteran guards who can score, create and facilitate. On top of that, every single player that the staff has reportedly contacted thus far has been an 80% or better free throw shooter, which fits right in with Musselman's system of wanting to get to the free throw line at a high clip and make them.
I think it will be easier to tell what type of players Arkansas is really targeting starting on Monday when the transfesr portal officially opens to undergraduates. There will be a ton of contacts, and I'd wager they go after a good amount of scoring guards and versatile wings this cycle.
Truth be told, they really have to go after almost every position of need this offseason, so there might not be a ton of super specific player "types" that the Arkansas coaching staff goes for.