Eric Musselman opens up on challenges of Arkansas having so many newcomers next season

After an appearance in last season’s Elite Eight, Eric Musselman’s Razorbacks will look completely different. Arkansas will return just two rotation pieces from their No. 4 seed from a year ago.

With all their changes comes a reset in how Musselman goes about his practices. On Friday, he discussed how he’s having to rebuild everything they do from the ground up.

“We have to start back at the very, very beginning of everything. Many of the drills (and) many of the stations work we’re doing is what we did in year one,” said Musselman. “There’s just so little carryover.”

The Razorbacks cupboard was left bare following Musselman’s third season in Fayetteville. Among the departures were JD Notae, Jaylin Williams, Stanley Umude, Trey Wade, Au’Diese Toney, Chris Lykes and Connor Vanover. The only duo to return that saw significant time were Davonte Davis and Kamani Johnson.

In order to rebuild their workout habits, Musselman says he’s put those two front and center in every drill.

“It’s probably a little bit challenging for Kamani and Devoe just because they’ve done it so much. It’s cumbersome. They’re going through the mundane of going back to the very beginning. For the other 11 players, we need that to happen,” he said. “We try to have (them) be at the front along with Cade Arbogast and Lawson (Blake). Those four guys have been through it.”

Although they went through an exodus of talent and experience, the new crop Musselman has brought him has them set up for success. Arkansas recruited the second best class in the nation according to On3’s Consensus Team Rankings. Their class is led by a trio of Top-20 recruits in Nick Smith, Anthony Black and Jordan Walsh.

Meanwhile, they also hauled in five transfers in the portal including Wichita State’s Ricky Council IV, Missouri’s Trevon Brazile, Arizona State’s Jalen Graham, and twins Makhel and Makhi Mitchell from Rhode Island.

In total, there are 11 newcomers for Eric Musselman to integrate into his program. With lofty expectations, he sees one plus in attempting to piece this puzzle together. He looks at it as a free-for-all for players to determine their own roles on this new roster.

“From a positive, there’s always a freshness when you have new people. The roles are completely up in the air. They should be up in the air every year but when you have returners that have proven themselves at certain spots, there are some roles that are oftentimes solidified before you even get together,” said Musselman. “That’s not the case with this team. Everything is up in the air with this group of players. It adds a freshness or a different type of feel to it.”

Pairing that kind of talent influx with a program that’s made two straight Elite Eights has plenty around college basketball buying Razorback stock ahead of this season. Still, Eric Musselman has a lot of work ahead of him this summer to finish this puzzle before tip-off. How quickly he does so will determine whether or not this group can break through and get to Houston’s 2023 Final Four.