Arkansas players put rollercoaster 2022-23 season into perspective after NCAA ouster

Arkansas came into the year with a top recruiting class, exciting transfers and a top-10 ranking in the preseason. Then, the Hogs suffered one injury after another and completed a bumpy regular season with more than 10 losses while needing to sweat out Selection Sunday at least a little bit. But after getting in as a No. 8 seed, the Razorbacks knocked off No. 9 Illinois and then reigning champs and No. 1 seed Kansas to get to the second weekend, where they fell on Thursday in the Sweet Sixteen.

After the final game, freshman point guard Anthony Black complimented the team’s fight throughout the season.

“We did a good job fighting through adversity this year,” said Black. “We got some players back, lost some players. There were injuries and stuff like that. And then we had losing streaks, winning streaks. It was real up and down. But for the most part, at the end of the season, we were playing decent ball. We just fought through a lot this year. And it didn’t end how we wanted it to. But we fought. That’s all I can say, we fought.”

Senior forward Kamani Johnson also said he was proud of the team’s effort, especially the younger guys; but as an older guy himself, he’s bummed the Razorbacks got blown off the floor in his last game.

“I mean, you never want to go out like that, you know what I mean? That’s not what we do here. But I mean, looking back on it, I’m just proud of my young guys and how they fought.

“And we went through a roller coaster this year, a tough season for us, and I’m just proud about how they fought. It’s misery right now because we lost, but when you look back on it, this group, we made it to the Sweet 16 and we’re doing something special in Arkansas and we’re kind of building on that. I’m just proud of this group. It hurts right now. But I’m really proud of this group.”

Another veteran, junior guard Davonte Davis, was also bummed about coming up short of their ultimate goal, but appreciates the run they were able to go on.

“Yeah, we had ups and downs, but we had an ultimate goal and weren’t able to reach it. Like Kamani said, we’re just proud for the guys. And we all came together and made it this far. And I’m proud of the guys for sure, continuing to push through the tough season that we did have.”

Though they came up short of that elusive Final Four yet again and only made the Sweet 16 after back-to-back Elite 8’s in 2021 and 2022, the 2023 season must be considered a success for Eric Musselman. That’s now three straight appearances in the second weekend, something that hasn’t happened for Arkansas since the mid ’90s. The Hogs may be inconsistent at times in the regular season, but Coach Musselman as a knack for winning games in the NCAA Tournament.