DUNCANVILLE, Texas — Arkansas basketball target Anthony Black came away impressed with his official visit to Fayetteville over the weekend.
His mother was impressed, too.
“She really enjoyed meeting the coaches and the hospitality was good,” Black said. “She just enjoyed meeting the staff and really meeting them in person and getting to know who they are.”
Black, 6-7, 198 pounds, of Duncanville, Texas, has accumulated more than 20 scholarship offers from Arkansas, Texas, Baylor, Oklahoma State, Gonzaga, Auburn, Duke, Kansas, Illinois, Oklahoma, Texas A&M and others.
Black's mother was excited about the more than 70 years of NBA experience on staff for Arkansas coach Eric Musselman.
“Coach Muss knows about the NBA and knows what it takes to get you there,” Black said. “She liked meeting the families of the coaches, too, and seeing how family-like they are."
The Arkansas program is ran much like an NBA team, Black said.
“They were showing me how they compare to the NBA like style-of-play-wise, offense-wise," he said, "and they were telling they know what it takes to get there."
Black was a second-team all-area selection as a junior at Coppell. He was named the District 6-6A MVP after averaging 16.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2 steals per game.
He was taken back by how the rabid the Razorback fans were about the basketball team when in public during his visit.
“It shows how important Arkansas basketball is to the whole state,” Black said. “Just seeing they way recognize all the players and Coach Muss in public, it was crazy. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
The coaches stressed how Arkansas’ strong fan support is an asset in helping players build their brand.
“They were saying how Arkansas doesn’t have any professional teams, so the college is really the professional team," Black said. "The fans are crazy (about the Hogs) and they would have my back.”
ESPN rates Black a high 4-star prospect, the No. 9 small forward and No. 26 overall recruit in the nation for the 2022 class. He is the No. 4 senior prospect in Texas.
Black liked seeing and hearing how Musselman and the staff interact with the players.
“I could tell, because they were telling me how they hang out with Coach Muss a lot,” Black said. “Just seeing how he interacts with his players and the players have nothing but good things to say about him. It just shows they have a good relationship.”
Black officially visited Oklahoma State, Texas, Iowa State in June as a junior. He’s taken senior officials to Oklahoma State and Georgia. He is planning to visit TCU next week and Gonzaga on Oct 8.
“After my visit to Gonzaga, I’ll start think about more deeply where I’m going but I just want to finish my visits first so I can have a feel for everything,” he said.