Transfer Rankings Provide Motivational Fodder for Arkansas Signees

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

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. 

HOGS FEED:

WHAT SCHEDULE COULD LOOK LIKE FOR HOGS, LONGHORNS, SOONERS UNDER NEW SCHEDULE FORMAT ... AT LEAST FOR A YEAR

SEC KICKS CAN DOWN THE ROAD FOR 2024 SCHEDULE FORMAT

DAVE VAN HORN HOPING FRESHMAN HAS PROBLEMS OF LAST THREE OUTINGS SOLVED FOR REGIONAL

SEC, ESPN LOSE IF LEAGUE GOES WITH NINE-GAME CONFERENCE SCHEDULE IN FOOTBALL

IF CHOICE WAS BETWEEN INVESTING IN HOLLAND OR DAVIS, THEN THERE WAS NO CHOICE TO BE MADE

RAZORBACKS GET THEIR LEADER BACK WITH RETURN OF DAVIS

GAME TIMES, TV NETWORKS SET FOR RAZORBACKS' FIRST THREE FOOTBALL GAMES (IF YOU CALL OPENER TV)

SHOULD THE SEC START MOVING TEAMS OUT OF CONFERENCE, RAZORBACKS WON'T BE ON THE BLOCK

SEC COMMISSIONER GREG SANKEY MAY HAVE TO JUMP IN MIDDLE OF SCHEDULE FRACAS AND TELL THEM WHAT THEY ARE DOING.

COULD BASKETBALL BE LOOKING AT SOMETHING MORE IMPORTANT IN SEC THAT FOOTBALL SCHEDULING?

GETTING TO TRUTH BEHIND BAYE FALL RUMORS

BEING DECISIVE IN FACE OF ANGER SHOW WHY VAN HORN IS SEC COACH OF THE YEAR

WHETHER POTENTIAL PERMANENT OPPONENTS TRUE MOST LIKELY REVEALED NEXT WEEK

ARKANSAS FANS ONCE AGAIN DENIED CHANCE TO GET TRUE EXPERIENCE OF 'THE SWAMP' WHEN HOGS VISIT FLORIDA IN NOVEMBER

SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION GROUP TO ORGANIZE PROTEST THIS AFTERNOON NEAR RAZORBACK STADIUM

ARKANSAS FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

FAYETTEVILLE WEATHER UPDATE

• Return to allHogs home page.

• Want to join in on the discussion? Click here to become a member of the allHOGS message board community today!

• Follow allHOGS on Twitter and Facebook.