Recruiting news isn’t going to be a normal feature here at Fayette Villains, but this is not a normal commitment, since it caps off a historic class for the Razorbacks.
Anthony Black has committed to the Razorbacks. The 6’7 point guard from Duncanville, Texas, is Arkansas’ third 5-star recruit of the 2022 class. The Razorbacks now likely have the top-ranked recruiting class in the country and by far the best in Arkansas history.
Black’s commitment is welcome news just days after the season-ending loss to Duke in the Elite Eight. Over at 247, Black’s comparison is Cade Cunningham, the former Oklahoma State one-and-done and top overall pick in the NBA draft last year.
Here’s a snippet of how 247 evaluated him:
While long term the idea is that he continues to develop as a point guard, Black could realistically play any perimeter position and be effective. From day one he can get to the rim, he can get to the free throw line and he can make a team much better at moving the ball.
Read the whole thing here.
Instant Analysis
Ripple effect at point guard
Arkansas has two point guards on the current roster that are eligible for next year: JD Notae and KK Robinson. How does Black’s commitment impact their decisions? In part I of our season recap, we mentioned that Notae’s role would likely be a little different should he decide to return. Does Black’s commitment change that? Black is significantly more athletic than Notae and is about six inches taller. He will command minutes from Day One.
Meanwhile, Robinson has long been rumored as a transfer candidate. In theory, if Notae didn’t return, Robinson would have a good shot at cracking next year’s rotation. But Black’s commitment makes that a little less clear.
What about the portal?
Arkansas is going to lose multiple players from this year’s team to other schools. There’s really no reason to panic: that’s how college basketball works now. There’s a big free agency period after the season. What that means is scholarships will be freed up. Here’s how they are distributed now:
Gone (3):
- Chris Lykes
- Trey Wade
- Stanley Umude
Current player, could forgo extra COVID year (2):
- JD Notae
- Au’Diese Toney
Current player, could go pro (1):
- Jaylin Williams
Current player, has eligibility and not going pro (6):
- Connor Vanover
- Devo Davis
- KK Robinson
- Jaxson Robinson
- Kamani Johnson
- Chance Moore
New player (6):
- Anthony Black
- Nick Smith
- Derrian Ford
- Barry Dunning
- Joseph Pinion
- Jordan Walsh
As it stands, the Hogs are over by three scholarships. So that means at least three guys from the “current players” lists will not be back:
- I think Vanover is probably gone. That’s one.
- As mentioned above, I doubt both KK and Notae stay due to the logjam at point guard. I would think Notae’s gone anyway — mostly because he will have a chance to be a pro and won’t do much for his draft stock by staying in college another year — but I have no inside knowledge there whatsoever. If he does decide to stay, it’s hard to believe KK would come back just to ride the bench again. So that’s two, and maybe three if both go.
- Jaylin Williams could go pro. I think he can improve his draft prospects by coming back and working on a better jump shot, but he might decide now’s the time. Draft analysts love him as a screener but have questioned his jump shooting and potential defensive ability.
- Au’Diese Toney would be on every preseason defensive player of the year watchlist if he returned, and he absolutely could turn Arkansas into a bona fide Final Four team by coming back. But he’s graduated and not from Arkansas, so I can’t blame him if he moves on.
- Finally, it’s not hard to imagine that Chance Moore or Jaxson Robinson might see greener pastures elsewhere.
Of course, if more than three leave — which is entirely possible and would not necessarily be a bad thing depending on who it is — that opens up some spots in the transfer portal. It’s hard to believe that Muss and staff won’t get a single portal player, so we’ll see how it shakes out.