Arkansas basketball season has finished

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas' basketball season is mercifully finished and few are sad since it was anything but what was expected.
Arkansas was ranked in the the Top 15 in preseason polls, but finished 16-17. They lost at home by 32 points to Auburn to open SEC play which is the most one-sided loss in the history of the Razorbacks in Bud Walton Arena. The 83-51 loss was a sign of things to come.
Maybe a 78-72 loss to UNC Greensboro on Nov. 17 should have been an even bigger warning sign. That loss along with dropping games against Oklahoma, Memphis and North Carolina had the Hogs at 9-4 entering SEC play. But the magic Eric Musselman had worked in previous seasons of turning the season around allowed fans to cling to hope for the coming weeks. That and wins over Duke, Purdue and Stanford provided hope for fans. Yes, the Purdue game was a preseason game, but no one attending it didn't feel it felt more like an NCAA Tournament contest than exhibition. Both coaches played to win it.
But as it turned out the UNC Greensboro and Auburn losses were much more the indicator of things to come. The Razorbacks finished 6-12 in the SEC. Many losses were one-sided ones.
Gone are guard El Ellis, forward Denijay Harris, forward Chandler Lawson, forward Jalen Graham, forward Makhi MItchell and guard Jeremiah Davenport. None of the six have eligibility remaining. That hasn't stopped Harris from entering the transfer portal with intentions to appeal to the NCAA for another season.
Two other Razorbacks, guards Joseph Pinion from Morrilton and Keyon Menifield Jr. have entered the transfer portal. Pinion had impressive showings against Florida and Ole Miss when he got extended playing time. The problem was Musselman, right or wrong, never trusted him consistently with big minutes. When asked about Pinion it was usually deficiencies on defense that came up though no one on the team was a lock down defender yet played big minutes.
The players remaining with eligibility are guards Khalif Battle and Davonte "Devo" Davis with one season, forward Trevon Brazile and guard Tramon Mark two years and then guard Layden Blocker and forward Baye Fall with three years each. Battle was asked about his intentions following the loss to South Carolina that ended the season and had this reply.
"I don't know," Battle said. "We just lost. I'm not even... I don't know. Right now, like, my mind is getting ready for next year. I don't know. That's it."
Battle had given Razorback fans some hope when he said after a win or two he was, ' A Razorback until the end.'
Musselman was asked if he has any indication on what Battle is going to do?
"I think with all players, you play the season out and you see how it unwinds, so it would be unfair for me to speculate either way," Musselman said. "I do think he’s really happy playing at Arkansas. We’re happy with the way that he’s progressed. The way that he’s evolved as the season’s gone on. He’s done a great job of buying in, and I think that’s why you see the productivity continue to improve. Like I said, I know that he enjoys playing here and playing in that system, but it’s whenever he makes a decision or whatever’s on him."

The reason Battle's future became such a hot topic is he topped the Hogs in scoring the last seven games they played. He scored 42, 36, 34, 29, 22, 24 and 20 points the last seven games. He averaged 14.8 points on the season which was second to Tramon Mark's 16.2. Mark also led the team with 1.2 steals per outing.
Brazile battled injuries once again, but averaged 8.6 points and topped the team in rebounding with 5.9 per game. He is projected in most mock drafts to go in the second round if he opts for the 2024 NBA Draft. Prior to the season, he was forecast for the first round.
Blocker was a solid all-around player, but his playing time disappeared late in the season for some reason. Fall never got much playing time this season. It just seems unlikely Davis will return though after almost leaving following last season and once again taking time away from the team for a few games the second year in a row.
Another question is will Musselman be back? Louisville and many others have openings. Musselman's buyout is a ridiculously low $1 million.
While Musselman has been linked to Louisville my sources indicate they prefer Baylor's Scott Drew or FAU's Dusty May are the top two candidates. Wanting Drew and getting him to leave Waco are two different things. Getting Drew to leave Baylor may prove a lost cause and many of the schools with an opening are looking at May. He took FAU to the Final Four last season and is a hot commodity.
Other schools such as Michigan have an opening too. Michigan fired Juwan Howard, but May is on their list along with others. Michigan's admission standards make it not attractive as one might thing. Howard landed some key transfers such as Terrence Shannon Jr. and Caleb Love, but they were denied admission to Michigan. Illinois and Arizona benefitted greatly from that.
An interesting scenario at Louisville is they also could try for UCLA's Mick Cronin. He has his support from many at Louisville. But his buyout is much bigger than that of Musselman. Cronin's buyout is $20 million, but does drop to $16 on April 1. Still that is a large amount of money. If somehow Louisville paid it then I'm assuming Musselman's name would be linked to UCLA.
It doesn't appear likely Musselman would leave Arkansas for Oklahoma State. His fondness for the transfer portal would prevent him from even considering Stanford in my opinion. At this time, it appears very likely Musselman will be back at Arkansas. Now, that could change, if Louisville swings and misses (which is possible) considering they are thinking Chicago Bulls' Billy Donovan, Drew, May and Cronin among others.
The offseason at Arkansas is just beginning and expect the exodus of current players to continue. Following the loss to South Carolina it appeared Musselman made his intentions clear, at least for right now.
"I'm probably more motivated right now at this moment than I ever have been," Musselman said. "So, yeah, I can't wait to work."
To fix what ailed the Hogs this year it will require a lot of work and also for Musselman and his staff not to make as many recruiting mistakes as they did this past class.