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Seemingly every team in the country was after Stanley Umude and Arkansas won out, landing his commitment Friday afternoon.
The South Dakota transfer has averaged at least 14.4 points per game each of the last three years, highlighted by a 21.6 average this year, which was second in the Summit league behind Oral Roberts' Max Abmas.
“We are excited to welcome Stanley to the Razorback family,” Musselman said. “He brings great versatility and was extremely well-coached at South Dakota by Todd Lee. He has a lot of experience and has a winning background. We feel the addition of Stanley and Au’Diese (Toney) on the wings will give us the ability to play position-less basketball.”
The 3-time all-Summit League honoree opted to test NBA draft waters after four years with the Coyotes, but ultimately chose to take a pitstop at Arkansas before presumably going pro next year.
Umude's high level of scoring this season was accompanied by 7.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game, as well, plus he shot 46.9 percent from the field, 35.5 percent from the three-point line and 79.9 percent at the charity stripe.
The 6-foot-6 wing was reportedly between Arkansas, Arizona and Kansas, with plenty of other high-major schools in contact with him. For skeptics of such impressive numbers in the Summit League, he put up similar numbers against top competition.
Most notably, Umude scored 24 points with 6 rebounds against Colorado and 23 points with 11 rebounds against Nebraska. He also scored over 30 points five times, including a 41-point onslaught against South Dakota State, where he was 17 of 26 (65.4%) from the field and 3 of 6 (50%) beyond the arc.
On top of his physical skills, Umude spent the season at South Dakota as the team's only returning starter and used the situation as an opportunity to refine his leadership–a quality Eric Musselman enjoys in his grad transfers.
The San Antonio, Texas, native joins fellow graduate transfers Chris Lykes from Miami and Au’Diese Toney from Pitt as new members of Arkansas' roster early in the offseason.
The versatile wing could play the 3 or 4 at Arkansas depending on strategy and matchups. If we assume all three transfers make the starting lineup, it could look something like this next October, with SEC sixth man of the year JD Notae continuing to come off the bench:
5'7" Chris Lykes
6'3" Devo Davis
6'6" Au'Diese Toney
6'6" Stanley Umude
6'10" Jaylin Williams
Assuming freshman wing Moses Moody enters the NBA Draft as expected, Arkansas still has another spot to fill after adding Umude. Check out the updated scholarship distribution here. Based on remaining needs, the Hogs could add a forward or another shooter in the near future.
