4/17/2020 basketball Edit

Musselman's 1st signing class at Arkansas is homegrown

All four of the Razorbacks' 2020 signees are from Arkansas, including Moses Moody and KK Robinson.

Andrew Hutchinson • HawgBeat

Managing Editor

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When he was first hired about a year ago, Eric Musselman was tasked with trying to haul in a Fab Five-like recruiting class.

He came up just short, but the Razorbacks’ coach still managed to land four of the five Rivals150 prospects from Arkansas in the Class of 2020 - an accomplishment that seemed impossible before he was hired following the 2018-19 season.

Arkansas natives Moses Moody (No. 54 in the Rivals150), Jaylin Williams (No. 61), KK Robinson (No. 67) and Davonte Davis (No. 132) chose to stay home and play for the Razorbacks.

Davis made it official by signing back in November and the other three waited for the late signing period. Williams and Moody sent in their NLIs on Wednesday and Friday, respectively, while Robinson is waiting until Monday to sign.

The only one leaving the state is West Memphis power forward Chris Moore (No. 103), who signed with SEC foe Auburn. Even without him, though, it’s still a historic class for the Razorbacks.

All four players are four-star recruits. Previously, the most such prospects Arkansas signed in one class was three - most recently in 2011, when its five-man class included Rashad Madden, Hunter Mickelson and B.J. Young (a five-star). The Razorbacks also had three four-star or better recruits in 2006 (Patrick Beverley, Michael Washington, Sonny Weems), 2004 (Steven Hill, Charles Thomas, five-star Al Jefferson) and 2003 (Ronnie Brewer, Darian Townes, five-star Olu Famutimi).

Making the 2020 class even more special is the aforementioned fact that all four call the Natural State home. Moody and Robinson wrapped up their prep careers at notable basketball powerhouses Montverde Academy in Florida and Oak Hill Academy in Virginia, respectively, but started out at North Little Rock and Bryant.

Williams helped Fort Smith Northside win a state title as a junior and reach the state semifinals this year, while Davis led Jacksonville to the state championship game this season before being declared co-champions because of the coronavirus pandemic.

That quartet of newcomers will join four other Arkansas natives already on the team.

If he doesn’t declare for the NBA Draft, Fort Smith Northside product Isaiah Joe will lead that group as a legitimate SEC Player of the Year candidate. Jonesboro’s Desi Sills and Little Rock Parkview’s Ethan Henderson were part of the same class as Joe and will be juniors next season.

The other in-state product is Connor Vanover, a transfer from Cal who will enter the mix after sitting out this season because of transfer rules. He helped Baptist Prep in Little Rock win back-to-back titles before playing his final year at Findlay Prep in Nevada.

It has been more than four decades since the Razorbacks had that many scholarship players from Arkansas on their roster. The last time they had eight was the 1976-77 season, according to HogStats.com.

That was the second season The Triplets - Ron Brewer (Fort Smith Northside), Marvin Delph (Conway) and Sidney Moncrief (Little Rock Hall) - played together, plus Arkansas had Chris Bennett (Little Rock Catholic), Steve Stroud (Highland), Ray Buckner (Pine Bluff), Trey Trumbo (Fayetteville) and Lawson Pilgrim (Conway). Houston Nutt (Little Rock Central) was also on the team, but he was on a football scholarship.

The Razorbacks went 26-2 that season, but one of those two losses came in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Although they didn’t have quite as many Arkansans on the team, they reached the Final Four the next year and came extremely close to making the Final Four again the year after that.

There have been only a handful of times Arkansas had seven in-state players on scholarship, according to HogStats.com, but only six were eligible at one time. For example, there were seven in 2014-15, but Dusty Hannahs (Pulaski Academy) was redshirting because of NCAA transfer rules.

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