Is this Arkansas' deepest roster under Eric Musselman? Part 1

The Razorback basketball team has not been short of talent in recent years with a coach like Eric Musselman navigating the transfer portal with ease and recruiting at a high level in the traditional high school ranks.

All of that talent has resulted in three consecutive Sweet Sixteen appearances and two Elite Eight trips over the past three season. Entering year five of the Musselman era, the team might not be the most talented he's had in Fayetteville, but it very well could have the most depth.

The roster boasts a combination of youth and experience all the way down the 13 allotted scholarships. Arkansas brought in just two four-star freshmen as part of the 2023 recruiting class. Layden Blocker ranked No. 24 in the country in the Rivals database, while Baye Fall finished at 36th nationally. The two top-50 recruits gave the Razorbacks yet another top-25 ranked recruiting class, as they finished at No. 21.

Blocker and Fall could both contribute early next season, but it will be tough sledding on a roster with a ton of talent and experience.

In the backcourt, Arkansas returns three-year starter Davonte Davis and former-four star recruit Joseph Pinion. In the frontcourt, however, the retention is much higher, as Trevon Brazile, Makhi Mitchell and Jalen Graham, the three foundational pieces to last year's frontcourt, all return.

In addition to the incoming freshmen and five returning players from last year's team, Musselman and the Razorback coaching staff again landed one of the best transfer classes in the country.

The haul included Houston wing Tramon Mark, Cincinnati wing Jeremiah Davenport, Temple wing Khalif Battle, Washington guard Keyon Menifield — who will be a non-scholarship redshirt — Louisville guard El Ellis and Memphis forward Chandler Lawson. The team has not officially added Lawson to the online 2023-24 roster, though.

Looking at the roster, to measure the talent on paper compared to the other rosters, we'll be analyzing a few different criteria.

For the freshmen, we will compare stars and ranking in their respective recruiting classes. While this is not a perfect system because each class is different in its own level of talent as a whole, it is a consistent barometer to use as a comparative tool.

For incoming transfers, we will look at raw stats plus conference and competition level and any individual accolades.

Returning players will likely be given an assumption of progression, and although this is risky, the track record indicates that under Musselman returning players improve from year-to-year.

Finally, we will only be looking at the previous three years plus the upcoming roster. The first team under Musselman was not successful enough to be in consideration for this piece.