Arkansas basketball, transfer portal” title=”Coleman Hawkins, Trevon Brazile, Ugonna Onyenso, Arkansas basketball, transfer portal”>Photo Credit: Illinois Athletics/Craven Whitlow/Kentucky Athletics
The race for the (apparently) final spot on the 2024-25 Arkansas basketball roster is on.
Head coach John Calipari insists on having a rotation of only 8 to 10 scholarship players and reiterated at the SEC meetings last week that he was looking for “one more player.”
UPDATE (June 4): It looks like the Razorbacks have landed their ninth player. Shortly after the following tweet was posted, it was announced that Trevon Brazile will be returning to Arkansas.
🐗🐗🐗🐗🐗🐗🐗🐗🐗
— Arkansas Razorbacks Men’s Basketball 🐗 (@RazorbackMBB) June 4, 2024
After relatively quickly adding seven players to a roster that included only Lawson Blake, things calmed down for Calipari.
The Razorbacks finally landed Kentucky transfer DJ Wagner early last week, bringing the roster to eight, and now that the NBA Draft withdrawal deadline has passed, it appears the legendary coach is increasingly closer to finalizing your list.
Previously committed transfers Johnell Davis (FAU) and Jonas Aidoo (Tennessee) withdrew their names from the draft, as expected, while a handful of others have already landed elsewhere. Notably, former Arkansas player Jaxson Robinson opted to follow his former coach to Kentucky and JT Toppin landed at Texas Tech.
Here’s a rundown of six other NBA Draft withdrawals still on the board that could be in the mix for Arkansas…
Possible Arkansas Basketball Targets
Coleman Hawkins-Illinois
The odds are that the favorite to fill that final roster spot remains Coleman Hawkins. The 6-foot-10, 230-pound big man is coming off the best season of his career, averaging 12.1 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.1 blocks in his last anus. That earned him second-team All-Big Ten accolades.
It was widely believed that Hawkins would remain in the NBA Draft, as he was very open and explicit about that being his desire, but instead, he will play a super senior season elsewhere. The Razorbacks are believed to be the leaders and would satisfy a requirement he raised during the draft process.
“I’ll never play in the Big Ten again, I wouldn’t play in the Big East,” Hawkins told reporters at the NBA Combine. “I would go somewhere with a soccer team where I could enjoy a game of soccer.”
Whether or not he and Arkansas fans will enjoy the product that Sam Pittman, Bobby Petrino and company put on the field this fall remains to be seen, but Hawkins makes a lot of sense when it comes to the hardwood.
He would reunite with Arkansas assistant coach Chin Coleman, who recruited him to Illinois, and join a talented front line that already includes Zvonimir Ivisic (7-foot-2) and Jonas Aidoo (6-foot-11). Having two other greats like that would give him the freedom to play as a 4 and not just as a 5.
Of course, Hawkins might also want to go somewhere where he can be *the* guy, which would mean a school like Louisville or Kansas State might make more sense.
Arthur Kaluma – Kansas State
If the Razorbacks opt to pursue a wing for that final roster spot, Arthur Kaluma would be a good fit. Listed at 6-foot-7 and 225 pounds, he played the first two years of his career at Creighton before joining the Kansas State basketball program last season.
In his lone season with the Wildcats, Kaluma started and scored 14.4 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists, all of which were career highs.
There’s a chance he ends up back in Manhattan, Kansas, as Kansas State coach Jerome Tang has been open about his desire to keep him, but many believe Kaluma is headed elsewhere. If that’s the case, Arkansas is widely believed to be a factor, as are Texas and Baylor.
Another school to potentially keep an eye on for Kaluma is Memphis, which is dealing with David Jones’ unexpected decision to remain in the NBA Draft. He would be a perfect replacement for the Tigers.
Trevon Brasile – Arkansas
This is where things start to get a little more unlikely. Trevon Brazile spent the last two seasons with the Razorbacks before declaring for the NBA Draft. All signs pointed to him starting his pro career, but he also entered the portal late in the process as a backup plan and is now taking it.
Brazile, an immensely talented and athletic big man at 6-foot-10, 220 pounds, looked like a potential first-round pick early in his first season at Arkansas, but suffered a torn ACL in just his ninth game. He returned last season and wasn’t bad, but he didn’t make the leap that many expected of him.
Of course, it sometimes takes athletes more than a year to return to normal after an ACL injury, so it’s not unreasonable to think he’ll enjoy a big season in 2024-25. The question is whether he would be interested in playing that season with the Razorbacks, or if John Calipari would be interested in him.
He would fit the need for another big man to play alongside Zvonimir Ivicic and Jonas Aidoo, but would share minutes. Brazile may want to go somewhere where he can be the centerpiece. Schools that have been mentioned as possibilities for him include Memphis, Nebraska, St John’s and Texas.
UPDATE (June 4): Trevon Brazile returns to Arkansas.
Ugonna Onyenso—Kentucky
Another great option for Arkansas is another former John Calipari player, as Ugonna Onyenso played for him at Kentucky. The Razorbacks have already added three former Wildcats and three Kentucky signees, so adding another wouldn’t be particularly impactful.
Like Hawkins, Onyenso seemed determined to remain in the NBA Draft when he initially declared, but he also entered the transfer portal as a backup option.
It’s easy to see why schools are interested in the 7-foot model. He averaged just 3.6 points and 4.8 rebounds as a sophomore at Kentucky last year, but that was in just 18.8 minutes per game. The most impressive thing is that, despite that lack of playing time, he managed 2.8 blocks per game.
Adding an elite rim protector like that would be great for Arkansas, especially since he’s not a scoring threat that would theoretically take points away from the other big men on the roster. However, it seems like a long shot at this point.
Kansas State is probably the favorite, as On3 reported it would visit the Wildcats this week. ZAGSBLOG also reports that he plans to visit North Carolina, Mississippi State and Oregon.
UPDATE (June 4): Ugonna Onyenso has committed to Kansas State
Kentucky transfer Ugonna Onyenso has announced that she will be heading to Kansas State for her junior season. The 7-foot Nigerian only averaged 3.6 points per game and 4.8 RPGs last year, but he presents some upside for Jerome Tang and his staff to develop in Manhattan.
—John Fanta (@John_Fanta) June 4, 2024
Wooga Poplar—Miami (Florida)
Wooga Poplar, a name that has been popular among Arkansas basketball fans since he first hit the transfer portal, is still on the board after going through the NBA Draft process.
At 6-foot-5, 195 pounds, he would fill the Razorbacks’ need for another shooter, as he has shot 38.1% from beyond the arc the past two seasons in Miami (Florida). Last year he averaged 13.1 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists.
According to a report from Kentucky Sports Radio last week, Poplar has a scheduled visit to Oregon and was also planning visits to Kentucky in Arkansas. The Wildcats may no longer be in the picture, however, after landing another sharpshooter in Jaxson Robinson.
Another school that would make a lot of sense for him is Villanova because he’s from Philadelphia and might want to go closer to home for his final season of college basketball.
Jamir Watkins – Florida State
Jamir Watkins, arguably the best player available in the transfer portal, is technically still on the board, but Arkansas is not believed to be in the mix at this time. According to Jon Rothstein, he has narrowed his list of schools to six and the Razorbacks are not one of them:
Source: Florida State transfer Jamir Watkins is considering the following programs.
de San Juan
Michigan
State of Florida
Oregon
Kansas State
Cincinnati
-Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) June 3, 2024
Of course, recruiting in the transfer portal can go crazy and things change on a whim. If he opens things up again, he would certainly be a wing option worth pursuing for Arkansas.
After two seasons at VCU, Watkins (6-7, 210) landed at Florida State last season and enjoyed the best season of his career, averaging 15.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1, 9 robberies.
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More coverage of Arkansas basketball, the transfer portal and BoAS’ Coleman Hawkins…
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