FAYETTEVILLE -- The University of Arkansas basketball team still has a scholarship available for the 2019-20 season, but Coach Eric Musselman said he's not sure if the Razorbacks will add a player.
"The one thing, as you study the landscape of college basketball, you don't want to fill a scholarship just to plug a hole or act like you're filling a need if you don't really feel good about the perspective student-athlete," Musselman said Thursday on the SEC coaches' summer teleconference. "So we're going to have patience with that last roster spot.
"Obviously, we'll continue to work hard and see what players are available. But this late there's probably a small pool, so to speak, of available players."
The Razorbacks were briefly one over the NCAA maximum 13 scholarship players when Jimmy Whitt announced on May 27 he was leaving SMU and returning to Arkansas -- where he played as a freshman during the 2015-16 season -- as a senior graduate transfer.
Arkansas' roster then went to 13 scholarship players on June 7 when Isaiah Moss -- a graduate transfer from Iowa who had been announced as a Razorback by the UA -- said he had changed his mind and would be reopening his recruitment. Three days later Moss announced he would transfer to Kansas.
The Razorbacks' number of scholarship players then went to 12 when Justice Hill, a guard from Little Rock who would have been a freshman for the 2019-20 season, announced on June 20 that he was entering the transfer portal.
Musselman praised Whitt, but declined comment on Moss -- and didn't mention him by name -- when asked about the two players on Thursday.
"Regarding the other guy I have no comment whatsoever," Musselman said.
Whitt, a 6-3 guard from Columbia, Mo., averaged 12.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and 4.0 assists as a fourth-year junior at SMU.
"We feel like Jimmy is an experienced player," Musselman said. "He's got really good athleticism. His wingspan is incredible. He's got the wingspan of a power forward or a center. Great anticipation defensively.
"A guy who can play the point, you can slide him to the off-guard a little bit. He can guard bigger players because of his athleticism. He's an extremely good rebounder from the guard position.
"And the experience factor as well, and the fact he's played in the SEC and played at Arkansas before. All those things are real positives."
Arkansas was among five teams in the mix for Virginia Tech graduate transfer Kerry Blackshear -- a forward who averaged 14.9 points and 7.5 rebounds last season -- but he has chosen Florida according to multiple media reports.
Blackshear also considered Kentucky, Tennessee and Texas A&M.
Sports on 06/28/2019