Transfer Rankings Provide Motivational Fodder for Arkansas Signees

While rankings relatively low, history suggests each player will make huge jump under Musselman

Author:
Kent Smith
Updated:
Jun 6, 2023 5:14 PM EDT
Original:
Jun 6, 2023

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – There are some things that are said or written that end up printed out and taped to a wall somewhere in the locker room for a game week as motivation, and then there are things that get printed out, blown up and placed under special full spectrum color lights in multiple prominent locations through the entire offseason all the way through to the final game. This is the latter.

Earlier this week, ESPN ranked the Top 100 players in the portal plus an additional grouping of 45 players and the results weren't kind to the Razorbacks. Whether it's downright insulting will be up to the five players who are joining the Arkansas basketball team. The rankings are as follows:

43. Tramon Mark, Houston
44. Keyon Menifield, Washington
73. Khalif Battle, Temple

Grouped in 45 "Next in Line" players along with Connor Vanover:
El Ellis, Louisville
Unranked:
Jeremiah Davenport, Cincinnati

Odds are high those players think of themselves as much better than the ranking they've been given. To put things in perspective, Ricky Council was rated the No. 22 player in the portal last year. When On3.com re-ranked the transfers late in the season, Council had moved up to No. 4. That means in an oversimplified world, having Eric Musselman as your coach is worth 18 spots.

So, if that holds up, here is where each signee will be by late February of 2024:

25. Tramon Mark, Houston
26. Keyon Menifield, Washington
55 . Khalif Battle, Temple
100. El Ellis, Louisville

Grouped in 45 "Next in Line" players along with Connor Vanover:
Jeremiah Davenport, Cincinnati

That means the top four transfers the Razorbacks have this year are expected to perform on par with the following players from last year's portal.

25) Jake Stephens, 6-11, 265, C, Sr., VMI – CHATTANOOGA
GP: 24 PTS. 22.0 ; REB. 9.8 ; AST. 3.4 ; FG%. 55.2

26) Jaren Holmes, 6-54, 210, G, Sr., St. Bonaventure – IOWA STATE
GP: 33 PTS. 13.3 ; REB. 3.8 ; AST. 3.3 ; FG%. 38.9

55) Emmanuel Akot, 6-8, 210, SG, Sr., Boise State – WESTERN KENTUCKY
GP: 31 PTS. 10.0 ; REB. 3.7 ; AST. 2.3 ; FG%. 40.7

100) Taylor Funk, 6-9, 220, Grad, F, Saint Joseph’s – UTAH STATE
GP: 34 PTS. 13.4 ; REB. 5.5 ; AST. 1.7 ; FG%. 45.1

No slight to these players, their stats are actually quite solid, but those numbers were against subpar schedules with the exception of Jaren Holmes. It's got to be a hard pill to swallow for Tramon Mark to transfer to one of the best and most transformative programs in the country only to have ESPN tell him that, if he works really hard and makes Ricky Council level improvements, he can one day aspire to be Jake Stephens.

There's a better than zero chance Arkansas lands another Top 145 transfer since four of the Top 20 players in the portal don't have a home and Arkansas is one of the few schools with powder still dry in the form of an open scholarship.

That's right. We're still in portal season in Fayetteville. The question now becomes, between the Warren Pink Tomato Festival, the Cardboard Boat Race World Championships in Heber Springs, and the Hope Watermelon Festival, which will have passed before fans know the official final basketball roster. While the roster's completion date is uncertain, it's an easy best that there will be five highly motivated signees to fight with for playing time in late December thanks to a transfer portal list from early June.