Hogs basketball coach flexes some recruiting muscle

Arkansas basketball coach Eric Musselman talks about his new team during the State of the Hog event on Wednesday, April 10, 2019, at Verizon Arena in North Little Rock.

When Eric Musselman was introduced as Arkansas' 13th men's basketball coach on April 8, it was normal to wonder just what type of recruiting job he could get done over the next month or so.

He was inheriting a team that went 18-16 and was losing arguably its best player in sophomore center Daniel Gafford (6-11, 233), who left the team after the SEC Tournament to train in Miami for June's NBA Draft.

Musselman used the graduate and regular transfer route to his benefit while going 110-34 the last four years at Nevada and did again during his first month-plus with the Razorbacks.

With news coming Wednesday that Jacksonville University sophomore transfer JD Notae (6-2, 185) had picked Arkansas, it means that Musselman has made four additions to his 2019-2020 roster to go along with freshman point guard signee Justice Hill (5-11, 170), a former Little Rock Christian standout who enrolled at Arkansas in January.

Notae led Jacksonville in scoring last season at 15.4 points while also grabbing 4.7 rebounds and 1.8 steals and shooting 40 percent from 3-point range. He will sit out next season and have two years of eligibility left with the Razorbacks.

The other new faces are Iowa graduate transfer guard Isaiah Moss (6-5, 200), UNC Wilmington graduate transfer forward Jeantal Cylla (6-7, 215) and California freshman transfer and Arkansas native Connor Vanover (7-3, 225).

That development has to be viewed as a success since Musselman's options were limited with his hiring at such a late date. While it would be ridiculous to say Arkansas will be better at Gafford's spot next season, it could be better at the other four spots on the floor and off the bench.

At the very least, there should be no more playing 3-on-5 on Arkansas' offensive end as happened so often at times last season with the squad's limited firepower.

It will be a roster unlike last season's youth that will have three seniors and only one player who has not played a Division I basketball game.

That's much different from last season's team, which had no seniors and seven players who had not played one minute of NCAA basketball.

Musselman announced at his introductory press conference that he thought the current roster could make next year's NCAA Tournament and certainly feels that now.

"You want to set high goals for your team," Musselman said. "You want high expectations for the group. We feel good about where we are.

"There were some good young pieces last year. Now we've added some guys that have some experience to add to some of the guys heading into their second or third year. I think it's a good blend of youth with veterans."

Moss averaged 11.2 points, 2.2 rebounds, 1.9 assists last season, shooting 52 percent from the field and 39 percent from distance. He brings a level of toughness to the court.

Cylla averaged 13.7 points per game last season for UNC-Wilmington and shot 31.3 percent from 3-point range and 84.3 percent from the free throw line.

Both will be immediately eligible with a year to play while Vanover is filing an appeal in hopes of being immediately eligible based on his desire to be near an ill grandmother in Little Rock.

If Vanover gets his waiver approved, he'll be able to show right away how practicing against and playing alongside 2019 NBA draft lottery pick Bol Bol (7-2, 220) and current Razorback Reggie Chaney (6-8, 220) at Findley Prep helped improve his game immensely.

Vanover, who has three years of eligibility left, averaged 6.8 points, 2.9 rebounds and one block per game for the Bears as a freshman. He shot 42 percent from the field and 35.5 percent (27-of-76) from 3-point range.

He saved his best for last, averaging 17.1 points, six rebounds and 2.7 blocks in his final three games at Cal and 12.8 points and five rebounds in his final 10 games after coming back from a broken nose and concussion he suffered in early December.

"He just kept getting better and better as the season progressed," Musselman said. "At the end of the year, he was one of the best freshmen in the country."

Sports on 05/23/2019