The Recruiting Guy

Hogs' early efforts paying off with 4-star guard

Early and consistent contact with University of Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman and his staff has ESPN 4-star shooting guard Ramel Lloyd Jr. planning to officially visit Fayetteville from June 22-24.

“I’m just ready to get out there and see what it’s all about,” Lloyd said.

Lloyd, 6-6, 195 pounds, of Chatsworth (Calif.) Sierra Canyon in December announced his top schools as Arkansas, Arizona, Oregon, Rutgers, Washington, Nebraska, Illinois and Baylor. On April 26, he said he no longer had a top eight and opened up his recruitment to other schools.

His high praise of the Hogs has been constant.

“Arkansas was one of the first schools I really got to talk to when everything started and like one of the first high major schools that was recruiting me,” Lloyd said. “I got a relationship with Coach Muss early, and the rest of the staff has been on me tough ever since then.”

The level of communication separates the Hogs from others.

“I think the biggest thing is they keep their whole staff in constant communication with you where some schools it will be like two people,” Lloyd said. “I’m pretty sure I’ve been in contact with everybody in the Arkansas program. It’s just constant communication with members on the staff.”

ESPN rates Lloyd the No. 12 shooting guard in the nation and the No. 9 prospect in California for the 2022 class. He’s expected to make an official visit to Nebraska from June 18-20 and one to Washington on a yet-to-be-determined date. He also plans to make an unofficial trip to Southern Cal.

Ramel Lloyd Sr., a New York City native, was an outstanding shooting guard at Long Beach State, where he led the Big West Conference in scoring and was named first-team all-Conference in 2001 after playing at Syracuse for a season out of high school.

He played against good friend and former Arkansas point guard Kareem Reid in high school. The elder Lloyd’s ties to the Razorbacks program don’t stop there. His good friend and mentor Pete Davis is a former Michigan State and NBA point guard who played for Musselman’s father, Bill, and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The younger Musselman was in high school when he and Davis first met. Lloyd Sr. also competed against Arkansas director of student-athlete development Earl Boykins at Eastern Michigan while at Syracuse.

The younger Lloyd plans to play for the Oakland Soldiers on the Nike EYBL circuit this summer. He wants to announce his college decision on June 28, his father’s 43rd birthday.

“I’ve wanted to commit and get it over with going into my senior year, and I wanted to play EYBL in AAU,” Lloyd said. “It’s my dad’s birthday. For him that would be the best gift I could give him, so I felt like it would be a really cool thing to do and do that for my pops because he’s the reason I’m here right now in this position.”

He relies on his father’s guidance and support.

“Obviously in life there’s tough times, and in basketball it’s the same thing. Basketball is my life, so there’s always ups and downs and rough times no matter how talented you are,” Lloyd said.