Many Arkansas fans will always think about what could have been when they look back on the injury-impacted true freshman season of guard Boogie Fland. However, even though he wasn't able to finish the 2024-25 season at full health, he is still being honored as one of the game's top freshmen from this season.
Wednesday night, Fland actually received two postseason nods. First, he was announced as one of 25 finalists for the Kyle Macy Award, which is presented annually to the top freshman in Division I college basketball.
While Fland didn't win the award (it obviously went to Duke superstar freshman Cooper Flagg, the frontrunner for National Player of the Year), his inclusion as a finalist was a nice tip of the cap to what he accomplished this year in Fayetteville.
Additionally, on Wednesday, Fland also picked up Freshman All-American honors from CollegeInsider.com. According to ArkansasRazorbacks.com, he becomes the 10th Freshman All-American in program history, joining Patrick Beverley (2007), Anthony Black (2023), Ronnie Brewer (2004), Courtney Fortson (2009), Joe Johnson (2000), Moses Moody (2021), Marshawn Powell (2010), Scotty Thurman (1993) and Corliss Williamson (1993).
This year, Fland was spectacular when healthy. He was second on the team in scoring at 13.5 points per game, first in assists at 5.1 per game, second in steals at 1.5 per game, and second in minutes played at 31.8 per game.
What's more, according to the official Arkansas athletics website, he was first all-time among Arkansas freshmen in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.71), the third-best mark in Razorback history regardless of classification.
Unfortunately, though, Fland was limited to just 21 games this season. A wrist injury sustained in mid-January cost him 15 games.
Though Fland was able to return to the court for the NCAA Tournament, he wasn't back to 100%. In three games in the Big Dance, he played an average of just 17.6 minutes and scored just four points per game.
While the Hogs were able to make a Sweet 16 run by upsetting No. 7 seed Kansas and No. 2 seed St. John's in the first weekend of the tournament, many will wonder what would have been if Fland and junior wing Adou Thiero (the team's leading scorer in 2024-25 who missed eight games at the end of the season with a knee injury before returning for a cameo role in the Sweet 16) would have been healthy all season.
Of course, we will never know just how differently this season would have played out if the Razorbacks would have been all full strength in March. But what we do know is that Fland was one of the best freshmen in program history.
A 5-star recruit coming out of high school, he lived up to all of the hype that accompanied his arrival, which is something that can never be taken for granted from a true freshman. Now, he's rightfully being given his due in the form of postseason accolades as the nation recognizes just how special of a player he was this season.