FAYETTEVILLE -- University of Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman didn't have to go outside the state to land four high school signees who have combined to put the Razorbacks in the top 10 of the national recruiting rankings.
The addition on Monday of Khalen "KK" Robinson -- a 6-0 guard from Bryant who played at Oak Hill (Va.) Academy this season -- increased the Razorbacks' signing class to six players, including two graduate transfers who do not figure into national recruiting rankings.
"KK's a great competitor," Musselman said on a teleconference. "Very serious-minded about the game. Really good speed with the basketball. Really unselfish.
"I mean, when I watched him at Oak Hill, he played with some guys who could really score the ball, and he was perfectly content to make his teammates better, to share the ball.
"He's got great court vision. He's really good in transition. He's a point guard who's a facilitator. Then defensively, he can put great pressure on the ball. He can pick up in the backcourt and turn over ball handlers. I think he's a guy that's really good at advance passes."
Joining Robinson in the signing class are 6-4 Davonte Davis from Jacksonville; 6-6 Moses Moody, who is from North Little Rock but played at Montverde (Fla.) Academy the past two seasons; 6-9 Jaylin Williams from Fort Smith Northside; 6-9 grad transfer Vance Jackson from New Mexico; and 6-6 grad transfer Jalen Tate from Northern Kentucky.
Jackson and Tate are eligible immediately with one year of eligibility remaining.
Arkansas' high school signing class is ranked No. 6 nationally by ESPN and 247Sports, and No. 9 by Rivals. The four high school signees are all 4-star recruits.
"I think that a lot of hard work went in by the entire staff to be able to get all four really good guys," Musselman said. "Guys that wanted to be a part of the Razorback family. Players that played all different positions for the most part.
"Just a really, really exciting recruiting class for us, especially our first class [with a full year to recruit]. We as a staff, as a program, are absolutely thrilled."
Musselman, who coached at Nevada for four seaosns before being hired at Arkansas in April 2019, said it's a plus to have so much in-state high school talent.
"Those four guys were pretty consistent being top-100 guys, and we got all of them," Musselman said. "Extremely excited about that. It's not often you can come into a situation and have that many guys within your state and be able to land all of them.
"They did a great job recruiting each other. More important than anything we did as a staff, it was those four young guys banding together and their families all talking through the process."
Davis was the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's All-Arkansas Preps Boys Player of the Year after he averaged 21.0 points, 8.0 assists and 3.0 steals for Jacksonville.
"I think Devo, he does things that you can't coach," Musselman said. "In basketball -- for any coach at any level -- guys that can go get their own shots or create a shot for a teammate, those guys who have a unique ability to get by their man when the play breaks down, become so important.
"We feel like Devo has that ability. He's crafty. He's shifty. He changes gears really quick. All those are things you can't teach. Obviously, he's got good length for his size. We look at it like he can play two positions, the 1 and the 2."
Williams averaged 18.7 points, 12.2 rebounds and 2.5 blocked shots at Northside, but also 2.7 assists.
"We feel like Jaylin can play a few different positions," Musselman said. "We don't think that he's a one-position player.
"Certainly, his ability as a passer, his willingness as a passer, makes him even more of an intriguing prospect."
Moody averaged 11.6 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists for a Montverde team that was ranked No. 1 in the nation and finished 25-0.
"We loved his size at 6-6," Musselman said. "He's done an incredible job of adding strength and weight. He's up to 200 pounds now.
"He's an extremely underrated offensive rebounder. We all know he's a great three-point shooter. His three-point percentage (46.9) at Montverde tells you that. We know he's a very, very good free-throw shooter, his percentage (82.1) tells you that.
"I think he can be a very good defender with his length. I think he'll be an excellent rebounder at that small forward/off-guard spot. I know for sure what a great teammate he is, how unselfish he is and how he plays the game the right way. He's got a very high basketball IQ."
Sports on 04/21/2020