Eric Musselman made it known before his first season that transfers would be as important, if not more important, than high school recruits in his time at Arkansas. In 2019, Musselman added five transfers (two immediately eligible and two sit-one players), instead of adding a single high school player. The first-year head Hog considers transfer recruiting an equally essential part of doing his job.

"I mean we reached out to anybody that we thought was an SEC roster caliber player," Musselman said. "Is he a roster level player? Is he a rotation type player? Is he a starter? Is he a top two or three, you know? So, obviously, reaching out to a player to try and talk to them about his love for the game, to try to figure out what his expectations are in his next stop, there are a lot of things that have to align for you to go all-in on somebody."

After locking in his two new transfer additions on April 15, Musselman joked that the staff contacted maybe 25 or 30 transfer prospects in a week since the 2020 season ended abruptly in Nashville, Tennessee.

Based on our research, Musselman contacted at least 45 players in the transfer portal, so how did that large number get whittled down to just two?

"The first step, at least for us, we have our own internal email where we look up the stats, look up where he’s from," Musselman said. "We have our own statistical read-out, moneyball type, Oakland As analytics. We try to plug in the number that that player is at and how that would forecast into the SEC."

"And then I watch film. And then we reach out. You try to get a hold of a high school coach or somebody that you might now to try to track down a player’s number. And from there... some guys are very interested. Some guys text back. Some guys email back. Some you never hear from. It’s pretty documented we’ve gotten ahold of most of the top guys and had conversations and been in the arena with them at least."

Musselman noted that both New Mexico grad transfer Vance Jackson and Northern Kentucky Jalen Tate were eager to talk to the Arkansas coaches, answering every call and text, and they fit the bill as career starters at their previous stops.

Arkansas "made the cut" for plenty of other big names in this year's transfer portal, even ones who'd only had a phone call or two from the Hogs, and Musselman credits that to his staff and their ability to recruit even from a distance.

"We’ve been involved in so many different recruits since our season ended and the feedback we’ve gotten, even if it’s from players that have gone elsewhere or if it’s been exploratory conversations and we kinda decided to go in a different direction, the feedback we’ve gotten has been really, really positive on how we’ve gone about conducting recruiting with the virus," Musselman said.

The Razorbacks extreme focus on transfer recruiting is setting them up for success while other coaching staffs are just now catching up to the trend.

"Even this year, it’s more competitive on the transfer market than it was last year," Musselman said. "Certainly four years ago, it was not difficult at all for us to get transfers because we were a little bit ahead of a lot of programs, especially a lot of Power Fives.

"Now all Power Fives are recruiting transfers and certainly there’s been talk of potential new rules changes coming either in the very near future or in the future. That’s going to change the landscape even more dramatically where you’re going to be building rosters almost annually. It’s not just basketball, it’s going to happen in all sports. So I think having a pulse on that is extremely important because it’s just as important as any other way that you would recruit or try to get talent to your roster."

Over the next few months, the NCAA will be making a decision on whether or not to allow players a one-time, penalty-free transfer that will let them transfer without having to sit a year or appeal for immediate eligibility. Most analysts argue this will clarify and simplify the process because, as things stand now, there's very little transparency in the NCAA's method of determining eligibility, as witnessed by Connor Vanover's denied waiver. On the other hand, things will undoubtedly get more complicated for college coaches, whose success will depend more on their ability to piece together rosters on a yearly basis instead of "program building."

Musselman is now charged with putting together the best lineup possible with four new high school additions coming in, two grad transfers and three more players who had to sit last season. That's not all–Arkansas could even add another high school or transfer prospect if Isaiah Joe decides to declare for the 2020 NBA Draft.