Report: Arkansas guard Keyon Menifield receives waiver from NCAA, is immediately eligible

Arkansas basketball guard Keyon Menifield received good news on Friday. The Washington transfer had his waiver approved by the NCAA, and he is immediately eligible to play, according to Jackson Fuller.

“Arkansas sophomore guard Keyon Menifield has been granted a waiver by the NCAA and is immediately eligible beginning with tomorrow’s game against Lipscomb at Simmons Bank Arena in North Little Rock, according to an Arkansas spokesperson,” Fuller posted on Twitter.

Menifield was a Pac-12 All-Freshman team member last season at Washington. He averaged 10 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists per game as a freshman in 2022-23.

This is huge news for an Arkansas team that is currently 6-4 and looking for a boost. The Razorbacks have played a tough schedule but are 3-4 in their last seven games after getting off to a 3-0 start.

Keyon Menifield should help Eric Musselman‘s team.

The Michigan native was ranked as the No. 40 point guard and No. 229 overall player in the country in the class of 2022, according to the On3 Industry rankings.

Menifield finished his high school basketball career at Phoenix Prep in Arizona, after previously playing at Beecher High School in Flint, Mich. He was the leading scorer in Nike’s EYBL 2022 Peach Jam, averaging 22.6 points on 46.7 percent shooting.

Arkansas coach Eric Musselman shares excitement to play in Little Rock

Arkansas coach Eric Musselman was already looking forward to his team’s trip to Little Rock for a home game vs. Lipscomb, even before he received the good news about Keyon Menifield.

He explained why taking the team on the road within the state is important earlier this week.

“Yeah, unbelievable. We love playing there,” Musselman said of the chance to go and play a game at Simmons Arena in North Little Rock. He then explained why the opportunity is so important for certain fans.

“There’s going to be kids going to that game that are never going to come to Bud Walton. You got to understand that, you got to respect that. You got to understand that there’s people that only watch games on TV and this is their one opportunity.”

Eric Musselman’s one regret about the whole event is that the NCAA won’t count this matchup as a neutral site game. Instead, it’s ruled as a home game for the Hogs.

“The only thing I wish is that this was a neutral site game, because it’s three and a half hours away,” Musselman lamented. “It’s not a neutral site game, it is counted as a home game for us. Which, obviously, we got the home crowd and all that, but there are some other programs that have games similar to this that are counted as neutral site games and not home games.”