Musselman, Razorbacks move on from pro day

Arkansas coach Eric Musselman speaks Wednesday, July 27, 2022, in Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Andy Shupe)

FAYETTEVILLE — NBA scouts filled tables around the court at the University of Arkansas men’s basketball team’s Eddie Sutton practice gym last Wednesday.

Scouts from 29 of 30 NBA teams came to the Razorbacks’ pro day to get an up-close look at a team that is ranked in the top 10 nationally in most preseason polls. The only team that didn’t send a representative to Arkansas was the Minnesota Timberwolves, who don’t have a pick in the 2023 draft.

“Pro day was great,” Razorbacks Coach Eric Musselman said. “I think the No. 1 thing from our coaching staff is how do we put our players in the drills and the live action the scouts want to see?

“So we reached out to almost every team — a little bit unique — and asked them what they wanted to see. We asked them, ‘What do you think of this drill?’ “

Musselman, in his seventh season as a college head coach and fourth at Arkansas, previously was an NBA head coach with Golden State and Sacramento.

“We did only drills you would see in an NBA setting,” Musselman said.

The interest in Arkansas from NBA scouts wasn’t a surprise considering three freshmen — guards Nick Smith and Anthony Black and forward Jordan Walsh — were McDonald’s High School All-Americans and are projected as first-round picks by several mock drafts.

Forward Trevon Brazile, a sophomore transfer from Missouri, and junior transfer guard Ricky Council from Wichita State, also are listed as picks in some 2023 draft lists.

“Mock drafts mean zero at this point in time because all you’ve got to do is look back a year ago and see what it looks like [in the preseason] and how it pans out,” Musselman said. “You’ve got to be a really good college player to solidify stuff, and so we’ve just talked to all of our guys — whether it’s a returning player, whether it’s a transfer, whether it’s an incoming freshman — about, ‘Hey, it’s a long season, we’re all going to go through ups and downs, and we’re all going to go through a learning curve.’ “

Smith, a 6-5 combo guard from North Little Rock, is projected among the top five picks in most mock drafts.

“It was cool seeing the scouts there,” Smith said. “I just tried to treat it like a normal practice. We got after it.”

Walsh, a 6-7 forward from Desoto, Texas, said pro day was a positive experience.

“Coach Muss prepared us for pro day, just telling us what it would be like and the expectation of what everything would be,” Walsh said. “So going into it, we weren’t really blind. We were kind of in the know, so that was great.”

Musselman said some players were nervous about pro day, but that the staff made sure to have constant communication about it.

“It was discussing what [the scouts] are looking for from a body language standpoint,” Musselman said. “We talked to them about the fact that, ‘Hey, this is just one piece to the puzzle. It’s 1/100 of the evaluation period.’

“After pro day, I brought everybody in the locker room and said, ‘Hey, there’s some guys in here that might be really happy with how they produced, and there might be some guys that are disappointed.’

“But rest assured that anytime I’ve been in the draft room, pro day is a very small portion of what’s being discussed on a player’s evaluation if it’s even brought up.

“There’s so much of a body of work that guys have to go through, and the main message is, ‘Let’s get ready to have a really good college basketball season. Let’s worry about getting better as an individual player. Let’s worry about getting better as a team.’ ”

Smith and Walsh said they weren’t nervous.

“Coach Muss told us, ‘Y’all just do your regular practice. Practice like you have been,’ ” Walsh said. “ ‘You’ve all been going hard. If you just continue doing that, then you’ll look good to anybody, including the NBA guys.’ “

The Razorbacks wore practice gear designed specifically for pro day and the staff put together booklets that included a bio of each player and how he tested in categories such as vertical jump.

“It was a little bit different, a little more detailed with bios, measurements already in the books so we weren’t doing those in front of them and could get to more live action,” Musselman said. “Creating uniforms for pro day make us a little bit unique from a professionalism standpoint on how we wanted to look in front of them from the coaching staff gear to the players’ gear.

“But I think it was a good success. A lot of our players performed under some pressure as well.”