The Recruiting Guy

California guard sees good fit with Hogs

ESPN 4-star junior and University of Arkansas target Ramel Lloyd Jr. had what he called a “great” Zoom meeting with the Razorbacks basketball coaching staff on Tuesday.

Lloyd, 6-6, 195 pounds, of Temecula (Calif.) Rancho Christian received a scholarship offer from Coach Eric Musselman in April and also has offers from Kansas, Arizona, Arizona State, Southern Cal, Oregon, LSU, TCU and others.

“They basically told me how they want to use me in their offense and how [I] could come in right away and have an impact as a combo guard there and have the ability to score like the guys in the past,” Lloyd said. “They compared me a lot to Mason Jones and Isaiah Joe and a lot of the shots and the things they did there. I can come in and be in the same type of mode.”

Also, ESPN’s No. 12 small forward and No. 50 overall prospect in the nation for the 2022 class, Lloyd said Musselman, associate head coach David Patrick, assistants Clay Moser, Corey Williams, along with director of student-athlete development Earl Boykins and special assistant Hays Myers participated in the Zoom call.

Lloyd believes the Arkansas offense is a good fit for his talents.

“The way Coach Musselman coaches would be perfect for me as a guard that is a three-level scorer to have the ability to score the way I can and for him to allow me to play my game and shoot certain shots and play a certain way that’s attacking would be great for me in my development,” Lloyd said.

There’s no shortage of connections with Lloyd and the Arkansas staff. Lloyd family friend Pete Davis, is a former Michigan State and NBA point guard who played for Musselman’s father Bill and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Davis, who was a mentor to Ramel Lloyd Sr. in college, has known the younger Lloyd since birth and is fondly called uncle by Lloyd Jr. Musselman was in high school when he and Davis first met.

“He basically said Muss was born to be a coach,” Lloyd Sr. said. “He said he’s honest like his dad, he’s a student of the game. He’s extremely well prepared. He has a plan for everything. He knows pro talent when he sees it and he knows how to develop it. You know he’s going to be tough on the kids but in a good way to get them better and prepared for whatever their next levels are.”

The younger Lloyd hears good things about Arkansas from Davis.

“Uncle Pete loves Arkansas, he’s obviously close to Muss,” Lloyd Jr. said. “That’s probably one of his favorite schools, I feel like.”

The elder Lloyd played shooting guard at Syracuse for a season before transferring to Long Beach State where he led the Big West Conference in scoring and was named first-team all-conference in 2001 for the Sharks.

He was hosted by Patrick, who was a point guard for the Orange in 1996, during Lloyd’s Syracuse official visit.

“David and I have talked throughout the years,” Lloyd said. “He came out to UC-Riverside in California. So we kind of reconnected when he moved out west.”

Lloyd Sr. is also familiar with Boykins, who was a standout at Eastern Michigan before playing 13 years in the NBA. One of Boykins’ and Eastern Michigan’s biggest wins came at Syracuse and Lloyd’s expense. The Eagles gave Syracuse a rare loss in a Carrier Classic game in 1996

The Orange had won the previous other 14 Carrier Classics.

“We were like who’s this little guy on the scouting report,” said Lloyd of Boykins, who’s was the second-shortest player in the NBA history at 5-5. “We were like no way in hell is this little guy going to come in here and do anything and he [wound up] killing us.”

The elder Lloyd, a New York City native, played against and is good friends with former Razorbacks point guard Kareem Reid. Father and son plan to visit Fayetteville once the NCAA dead period is lifted.

“If it wasn’t for covid we would’ve already been down there,” Lloyd Sr. said.

Arkansas’ style of play, relationships and ties to the staff has the Hogs high on Lloyd’s list.

“They’re right up there with a couple of different schools,” Lloyd Jr. “I’m very high on Arkansas.”

Lloyd said he plans to narrow his list to 10 schools on Dec. 22.

“From there I would just commit, that will be my only cut list,” Lloyd Jr. said.