Arkansas basketball: Muss reveals a philosophical pivot helped him earn No. 2 recruiting class of 2022

Eric Musselman realized that to get ahead of the competition, he’d need to get back to emphasizing high school recruiting

The Razorbacks’ coach realized that by the time he got to Arkansas, the rest of the college basketball world had caught-up to what he already had been doing: using the transfer market as a valuable means to restock your team with talent. It forced him to reevaluate his approach to recruiting.

“What ended up happening once I got to Arkansas you’re in the SEC— you’re in the Power Five,” Musselman said, “I thought there were a lot of mistakes in the transfer market. There were a lot of guys who were mid-majors who were playing in the SEC. What we tried to do, in year one— we had four really, really good freshman.”

Musselman realized that the majority of SEC teams were trying to save time and resources by working the transfer market and as a result, obtaining lesser talented individuals. Once he realized that, he knew he and his staff had to return to a focus on recruiting high schoolers.

“We actually have five incoming freshman next year, which is a lot,” Musselman said. “We felt like the transfer market is oversaturated and the high school market is under recruited.”

“We have changed our philosophy in two of the three years we’ve been at Arkansas— we have gotten heavy, heavy into that high school market,” the head coach acknowledged.

The reinvention seems to have paid off quite nicely for the Arkansas Razorbacks, as they have the No. 2 ranked recruiting class for 2022.

An emphasis on keeping in-state talent and finding a quick path to the NBA makes Musselman an attractive choice for many players with aspirations of making it to the NBA.

You can listen to the entire interview with Eric Musselman above link via Spotify.