Arkansas signs top grad transfer Destiny Slocum

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Eric Musselman isn’t the only basketball coach at Arkansas capable of landing quality transfers.

Coming off a season in which the Razorbacks’ three leading scorers were players who began their careers elsewhere, Mike Neighbors landed one of women’s basketball’s top available transfers available in Destiny Slocum.

After committing on Saturday, she officially signed with the Razorbacks on Monday.

It will be the 5-foot-7 point guard will be immediately eligible as a graduate transfer. Arkansas will be Slocum's third school - in a third different major conference - during her collegiate career.

Slocum was a McDonald's All-American and the No. 7 overall prospect in the country in the Class of 2016, according to ESPN. She originally committed to Neighbors when he was at Washington, but flipped to Maryland when he took the Arkansas job. Following one season there, Slocum transferred to Oregon State, where she's been the last three years.

After sitting out a year because of NCAA transfer rules, Slocum started every game and was the Beavers’ leading scorer in each of the last two seasons. During that stretch, she averaged 15.2 points on 45.2 percent shooting, while also contributing 3.2 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game.

Those numbers landed her on the All-Pac-12 team the last two years, as well as honorable mention All-America honors from the WBCA.

Including her lone season with the Terrapins in 2016-17, when she was named the National Freshman of the Year by the WBCA, Slocum has scored 1,394 career points and made 201 three-pointers at a 37.0 percent clip.

That should make her a natural fit for Neighbors’ Razorbacks, who have broken the single-season school record for made three-pointers in each of his three seasons as head coach. This season, Arkansas made 314 - which ranked third nationally - and had the sixth-best three-point percentage in the country at 38.9 percent.

Slocum - who has been a part of Sweet 16 teams at Maryland and Oregon State - will presumably fill the hole in Arkansas’ starting lineup created by the graduation of Alexis Tolefree. A JUCO transfer originally from Conway, Tolefree shot 40.4 percent from beyond the arc and was the Razorbacks’ second-leading scorer at 16.3 points per game this season.

Arkansas returns its other four starters on a team that went 24-8 and was set to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time in five years before the coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of March Madness.

That includes Chelsea Dungee (16.9 ppg) and Amber Ramirez (14.7 ppg), who began their careers at Oklahoma and TCU, respectively. A’Tyanna Gaulden, a key reserve who averaged 6.9 points last season, began her career at Florida State before entering the transfer portal after the season.

The transfers of Gaulden and fellow key reserve Rokia Doumbia - and graduation of Tolefree and Kiara Williams - made it possible for the Razorbacks to add Slocum to their three-player signing class of Elauna Eaton, Rylee Langerman and Destinee McGhee.

All 15 of the Razorbacks’ scholarships for the 2020-21 season are now accounted for.

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Head coach Mike Neighbors on his newest player, via a press release

"She’s one of US. Hopefully, we have earned your trust the last three seasons. So, trust us when we say that she is the perfect fit in our locker room, for our city, for our state and for the SEC. Our recruiting relationship has had more twists and turns than the Pig Trail between Ozark, Brashears and Huntsville, but we’ve never lost that connection. The circumstances never aligned for us to coach her. Not until now. We have seen her play the maximum number of games the NCAA permits and can say to our fans with certainty that y’all have every reason to be excited. Over the next eight months, we can tell the stories about every twist and turn, but for now, let’s just welcome our newest Razorback to the Arkansas family.

Former 40/29 sports reporter AJ McCord on Slocum, who she covered as a sports reporter for KOIN News in Portland

"Destiny Slocum can score, period. She led the Beavers in scoring and assists during her two seasons in Corvallis and despite playing just two seasons, is 10th on the Beavers' all-time career 3-pointers list with 130. So much of Scott Rueck's offense ran through Slocum and she has a authority on the court that left her teammates confident she could lead them. This is the third time Mike Neighbors has recruited Slocum, so his knowledge of her game and persistence in pursuing her shows me she'll be able to have the same immediate impact at Arkansas as she was able to have on the court for the Beavers."

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