SEC Media Picks Men’s Basketball 6th

FAYETTEVILLE – Arkansas was picked to finish sixth by the Southeastern Conference media, it was announced by the league office today.

Led by second-year head coach Eric Musselman, the 2020-21 Razorbacks will have a whole new look.

School-Record 11 New Scholarship Players

• Arkansas has rebuilt its roster for the 2020-21 season.
• Arkansas will have a school-record 11 new players on scholarship (four graduate transfers, three players on last year’s roster that sat out and four freshmen) and 11 total.
• The previous record for most new players in one season was nine on scholarship, 10 total, in the 1995-96 season.

Nation’s Most: 12 Total Newcomers

• Arkansas will feature 12 new players including:
  – 4 graduate transfers (Jalen Tate, Justin Smith, Vance Jackson Jr., and Brandon Kimble).
  – 3 sit-out transfers (JD Notae, Connor Vanover, and Abayomi Iyiola).
  – 5 freshman: 4 scholarship (Moses Moody, Khalen Robinson, Davonte Davis, Jaylin Williams) and a walk-on (Bryson Morehead).
• Arkansas is one of 10 schools in the country with double-digit newcomers on the 2020-21 roster.

Only 3 Lettermen Return; 2nd Fewest in NCAA

• Arkansas returns three lettermen from last year.
  – Desi Sills: 32 gms / 340 pts / 997 min
  – Ethan Henderson: 20 gms /  31 pts  / 184 min
  – Emeka Obukwelu: 6 gms  /   0 pts  / 6 min
• Only Kentucky — with two — returns fewer lettermen from last season. Georgia Tech, like Arkansas, returns three.

However, do not confuse the number of new players with a lack of experience.
– Jackson (92 career games/65 career starts) is just 10 points shy of 1,000 for his career.
– Tate (93 career games/82 career starts) is just 50 points shy of 1,000 for his career.
– Notae (60 career games/51 career starts) is just 71 points shy of 1,000 for his career.
– Smith (98 career games/73 career starts) only needs 179 points for 1,000.
– Iyiola (63 career games/39 career starts) has over 600 points and 400 rebounds for his career.
– Vanover (28 career games/15 career starts) averaged 17.5 minutes per game as a freshman at Cal.

Arkansas has exceeded its preseason predictions in each of the last seven years.
– 2013-14: Picked 8th – Finished 5th
– 2014-15: Picked 3rd – Finished 2nd
– 2015-16: Picked 11th – Finished t-8th
– 2016-17: Picked 5th – Finished t-3rd
– 2017-18: Picked 6thvFinished t-4th
– 2018-19: Picked 10th – Finished t-9th
– 2019-20: Picked 11th – Finished t-10th

Arkansas opens the season versus Mississippi Valley State on Nov. 25 (Wednesday) at Bud Walton Arena.

 

For more­­ information on Arkansas Men’s Basketball, follow @RazorbackMBB on Twitter.