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FAYETTEVILLE — With the season nonetheless seven months away, some are already projecting Arkansas to construct off back-to-back journeys to the Elite Eight and make it even additional within the 2023 NCAA Match.
In actual fact, a number of nationwide faculty basketball writers — together with at ESPN and Sports activities Illustrated — have tabbed the Razorbacks as preseason No. 1 of their “way-too-early” prime 25.
It’s simply essentially the most preseason hype Arkansas has obtained because it was coming off a nationwide title in 1994, when it landed at No. 1 within the AP’s preseason ballot forward of the 1994-95 season. That ballot received’t come out till October, however there are many rankings already making the rounds on-line.
The primary outlet to place Arkansas within the prime spot was HeatCheckCBB.com last week and different extra well-known publications and personalities adopted swimsuit within the instant aftermath of Kansas’ win over North Carolina in Monday’s nationwide championship.
Most notably, ESPN’s Jeff Borzello and Sports Illustrated’s Kevin Sweeney slotted the Razorbacks at No. 1, however these picks hinge on how their lineup shakes out for subsequent season. Whereas it has the nation’s second-best recruit class for 2022, there are a few present gamers with looming selections.
Though he wrote that every one potential tremendous seniors have been projected to depart except they’ve already made an announcement on the contrary, Borzello included Au’Diese Toney in his projection. He additionally didn’t embody Jaylin Williams, who introduced Monday that he’d test the NBA Draft waters without hiring an agent.
Along with Toney, Borzello had Davonte Davis and Arkansas’ trio of McDonald’s All-People — Nick Smith Jr., Anthony Black and Jordan Walsh — in his projected beginning lineup, with the noticeable absence of an enormous man.
“There’s not a clear No. 1 entering the offseason, but five-star guard Anthony Black’s commitment to Arkansas in late March gives the Razorbacks the edge,” Borzello wrote. “There are some roster questions, mainly focused on Jaylin Williams and Au’Diese Toney, but if one of the two return, I think this is the best team in the country.”
With 16 double-doubles in his last 23 video games, Williams is garnering an increasing number of consideration in mock drafts and prospect rankings. He has till June 1 to withdraw his title from the 2022 NBA Draft and keep his faculty eligibility.
“One huge draft decision to watch is that of star center Jaylin Williams, who blossomed into one of the SEC’s best bigs down the stretch,” Sweeney wrote. “He’s considered to be returning for the purposes of these rankings, but his stock almost certainly rose down the stretch. If Williams returns as projected, this is the best team in the country.”
After a pair of evenly used reserves — Probability Moore and KK Robinson — entered the portal final week, the primary main roster domino fell Sunday afternoon, as third-team All-American JD Notae introduced he would hire an agent and pursue a professional career.
Like Toney, he might have returned in 2022-23 due to the additional yr of eligibility granted to all gamers by the NCAA in response to the pandemic.
Nevertheless, even with out Notae, Fox Sports activities Radio character Aaron Torres likes the Razorbacks sufficient to place them at No. 1 in his ranking, as effectively.
“Had leading scorer and All-SEC guard JD Notae returned, this would have been a no-doubter,” Torres wrote. “But even with him gone, the Hogs have a loaded squad ready to compete for the school’s first Final Four berth since 1995.”
Stadium’s Jeff Goodman feels equally about Arkansas, additionally placing it at No. 1 in his ranking.
“I’d expect Notae to leave, but as long as Williams and Toney come back, Eric Musselman’s Arkansas squad is in the mix for the No. 1 team in the country,” Goodman wrote.
Arkansas just isn’t a unanimous alternative as the very best group in faculty basketball, although.
Seth Davis with The Athletic has the Razorbacks at No. 3, but it surely’s value noting that his projection consists of Notae and Williams returning and Toney leaving. The one certainty in that group is that Notae is certainly not coming again.
A few rankings — by Gary Parrish of CBS Sports and Mike DeCourcy of The Sporting News — have Arkansas slotted at No. 6
Primarily based on Parrish’s reasoning for placing the Razorbacks there, it seems as if he’s anticipating Toney and Williams each to return to high school.
“The Razorbacks’ ranking is based on Arkansas returning three of the top five scorers from a team that advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year,” Parrish wrote. “Eric Musselman will add three 5-star prospects to that core and have a group good enough to get Arkansas back to the Final Four for the first time since 1995.”
It’s not simply nationwide writers who appear to like Arkansas’ possibilities in 2022-23.
Caesars Sportsbook has already launched its odds for subsequent yr’s nationwide championship and the Razorbacks are sixth on the record at 16-1. They’re behind Kansas (10-1), Gonzaga (12-1) and a trio of colleges — Arizona, Kentucky and Duke — at 15-1.
One other sportsbook, BetRivers, has truly put in Arkansas and Duke as co-favorites to win all of it with 9-1 odds, adopted carefully by Gonzaga at 10-1.
Residing as much as these lofty expectations and slicing down the nets in Houston a yr from now received’t be simple for the Razorbacks.
Over the past 48 years, solely eight preseason AP No. 1 groups went on to win the nationwide championship. The final group to perform the feat was North Carolina in 2008-09.
That stated, every of the final 5 — and eight of the final 10 — nationwide champions have been ranked inside the highest six of the preseason AP Ballot. When Arkansas received the title in 1994, it started the yr at No. 3.
Regardless of its lack of postseason success exterior of Arkansas, the SEC seems to be loaded as soon as once more. 4 different groups within the convention — Kentucky, Tennessee, Auburn and Alabama — are ranked in just about the entire “way-too-early” prime 25s, with Texas A&M additionally receiving some love.
