The Recruiting Guy

Musselman has sights on in-state talent

Arkansas basketball coach Eric Musselman is shown during a game against Tulsa on Saturday, Dec. 14, 2019, in Fayetteville.

University of Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman’s aggressive in-state recruiting continued Thursday when the Hogs offered scholarships to three Natural State prospects.

Little Rock Christian junior forward Creed Williamson and sophomore point guard Layden Blocker, and Little Rock Central freshman guard/forward Annor Boateng were offered by Musselman.

Williamson, 6-8, 225 pounds, is the son of former Razorback and NBA great Corliss Williamson. He received an offer from St. John’s on Wednesday to go along with others from Oral Roberts and the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Kansas and Southern Miss also have shown interest.

All three prospects were slated to play for the Joe Johnson Arkansas Hawks until coronavirus canceled spring and summer basketball. Hawks founder and chairman Bill Ingram believes Williamson will see his offer list grow in the future.

“He’s taller than Corliss and doesn’t look like he’s finished growing,” Ingram said. “I’m thinking this is just beginning for him.”

Williamson averaged 12.3 points and 8.6 rebounds per game while shooting 68% from the floor as a sophomore with the Warriors. Ingram said the elder Williamson is teaching his son to play with both his back and face to the basket.

He believes Williamson is benefiting from being coached by his father and highly regarded Little Rock Christian Coach Clarence Finley.

“He gets tutoring from his dad and Coach Finley,” Ingram said “That’s probably as good as it gets for a high school kid.”

Williamson’s shooting ability isn’t lacking.

“We’ve had shooting sessions with Creed, and he’ll shoot the ball 15-20 minutes straight and maybe miss one or two shots,” Ingram said. “He shoots it very well from the mid-range. Understands the game. Understands angles. Can score with both hands.”

Blocker, 6-2, 160, also has scholarship offers from Auburn, St. John’s, TCU, Southern Miss, Tulane, Oral Roberts and the University of Central Arkansas. He averaged about 15 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals per game as a freshman.

“His athleticism has improved. He can play the 1 or 2 spot, and he can do either very well,” Ingram said. “He’s just a dynamic guard and he’s probably going to a great point guard for somebody. He could easily slide over to the 2 and turn into a scoring guard. He has a high ceiling.”

He was named to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s All-Arkansas Preps Underclassman Team. He also was named one of the top 30 prospects at the Pangos All-South Frosh/Soph camp in the Dallas area last weekend. The event featured 219 athletes from 13 states.

Pangos camp director Dinos Trigonis compared Blocker to former Alabama and Arizona point guard Justin Coleman, who was a consensus 4-star prospect in high school.

“Blocker is a sneaky athletic slasher, scorer, rangy, great defender,” Trigonis said. “He can score in a variety of ways.”

Boateng, 6-5, 195, gained traction nationally with a strong showing at the Pangos All-South Frosh/Soph camp.

He was named the MVP of the Black team at Pangos with 12 points and 6 rebounds in a 103-95 loss to the White team in the Cream of the Crop Top 30 game.

“Right now in his age group, he’s easily a top seven player in the country,” Ingram said. “You go to Pangos and you get the MVP at a camp that has ninth- and 10th-graders from all around the region and play against older kids that’s a year older than you, that’s a pretty big deal. He’s a special player.”

“Boateng has star quality. He has the ‘It’ factor. There’s a very good chance he could probably be the next great player out of this state.”

Boateng, who’s also drawing interest from Oklahoma State, is physically mature for his age despite being a newcomer to the weight room.

“He hasn’t done a lot of weight room work yet,” Ingram said. “He’s starting to do some now because he’s in high school but before he got to high school he didn’t do anything. It was just natural.”

A year or two in the weight room will likely add to his frame.

“He might have those shoulders looking like a Dwight Howard or something,” Ingram said.

Ingram said Williamson, Blocker and Boateng have little or no facial or leg hair.

“If they’re clean in both of those spots, it’s a good possibility they’re still growing,” Ingram said. “All of theses guys are like that. Physically they’re probably not finished products.”

Trigonis was highly impressed with Boateng.

“Boateng is a big-time wing body,” Trigonis said. “Some people try to compare him physically to Anthony Edwards from Georgia, who’s going to be in the NBA Draft. Boateng is a high level 2024.”