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Arkansas doesn't currently have any spots to take another high school commit or transfer prospect for the 2020-21 season, but that hasn't stopped head coach Eric Musselman from chasing down transfers the moment they enter the portal.
It's nothing new for Musselman who contacted more than 25 transfers in the NCAA portal last cycle after being hired by the Razorbacks in April (and it didn't look like he would have room when he took over then either). Arkansas shed one scholarship just before Musselman was hired (Keyshawn Embery-Simpson), Ibby Ali entered the portal a couple weeks later, early enrollee Justice Hill entered the portal a few weeks after that, Khalil Garland officially moved into a student assistant role the same day Hill entered the portal and then Gabe Osabuohien was dismissed from the team in August.
Despite contacting 25 or more players, only six came to visit and in the end, he took five transfers, only two of which were eligible for this season.
Musselman's approach is a very proactive one, very similar to what coaches do across the country for high school recruiting. They offer many knowing that only a few prospects will be a good fit, and even fewer will have strong mutual interest.
But why contact transfers if there are no scholarships to give? That's the question many Razorback fans have been asking, along with, "Won't that send the wrong message to the players or commits?"
Musselman answers those questions simply, explaining that he and his staff are just doing their jobs.
"It is our job to do due diligence on every available player whether it be a high school player, whether it is a transfer,” Musselman said. “I mean right now the whole world has come to a stop except the basketball transfer portal and that moves a quicker rate than anything in the world almost.
“You might make an initial phone call, but then you watch film and you might say ‘hey, not really what we need’ or ‘not the size that the SEC needs.' And then we do a whole analytical thing on transfers and we kind of come with a formula on guys that transfer up, low majors or mid majors, and you try to have a formula to spit out those stats and what those would mean at our level."
While you could argue only one of Arkansas's two immediately eligible transfers last year really panned out, Musselman, now with one year at Arkansas under his belt and a better understanding of his roster situation, has a lot more time on his hands to evaluate the transfer portal prospects.
He's already reached out to prospects in the double-digits in the transfer portal, players who are immediately eligible and sit-one players alike.
For the 2021 recruiting class, it may even be smarter to target sit-one transfer additions over high school prospects due to evaluation restrictions that the COVID-19 outbreak has forced already for this summer. Transfer prospects have a body of college work to show off while high school prospects are still developing. EYBL sessions have been cancelled or postponed and there's no telling when coaches will be free to travel the country again to watch kids play and see how they've improved.
"Last night, I didn’t put the phone down until 11:30 and it was the first night in awhile that I did not watch a TV show with my wife because the number of the people in the transfer portal and we’re calling our own recruits, we are calling our own players," Musselman said. "I have been on the phone more in the last week that maybe I have of five years of being in college basketball.”
As we patiently wait to see if Arkansas will have any portal entries of their own over the coming months and if Mason Jones or Isaiah Joe decide to enter the 2020 NBA draft early, Musselman will continue to recruit, at all levels.
