Menifield's Transfer Commitment Shows Hogs No Longer Have Borders in Recruiting

Skills indicate Washington Huskies guard will be at Arkansas to replace one of two players

Washington Huskies guard Keyon Menifield (23) dribbles against Oregon State Beavers guard Jordan Pope (0) during the first half at Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion. (Joe Nicholson –USA TODAY Sports)

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – When Washington's Keyon Menifield first popped up in the transfer portal last week, he immediately leapt off the screen as one of the few players who could make a difference at Arkansas in terms of potentially helping the Hogs get over the Elite 8 hump.

However, the odds of a player from Flint, Michigan who just spent the past year hooping it up in Seattle making it to Fayetteville are typically long at best. That Razorbacks coach Eric Musselman was able to convince Menifield to come to Northwest Arkansas speaks not only to his recruiting, but of the national perception of the program.

There are no longer borders to the Razorbacks' recruiting footprint. Now, every player who puts his name in the transfer portal is a legitimate prospect for Arkansas.

Nolan Richardson once said that when you create the monster you have to continue to feed it. Well, Musselman has brought the monster back to life and it appears he has turned the chicken coop out in the back yard into an entire Wal-Mart Supercenter by way of his yearly raiding of the transfer portal. 

That Arkansas was targeting Menifield made it even more obvious that freshman guard Nick Smith would be declaring for the NBA draft. It was obvious Musselman had a very particular type of player in mind with his initial transfer portal contacts and none fit the bill better than Menifield.

Here's how we initially described his playing style in the Hog Feed.

"This is Menifield's game against Oregon. His style makes me think someone cloned Nick Smith with a healthy does of Anthony Black. He definitely looks like someone to be excited about if he comes. The only question is whether he can handle the physical abuse that Black had to endure in the SEC." 

Considering he could potentially fill the roles of either Smith or Black, it raises the question as to which role he is at Arkansas to fulfill. The types of shots he takes leans more toward Smith, but his desire to be less one-dimensional while filling up other areas of the stats sheet lean more toward Black.

Black hasn't declared for the NBA draft and has sent mixed messages as to where his head is in regard to next season by labeling things on his social media as "Year 1" as an indication that there might be a "Year 2." 

There's room and an argument for Black to return thanks to NIL and how guaranteed rookie contracts are set up, but, if he doesn't, the arrival of Menifield at least eases a little bit of the loss. Considering Smith missed most of the season and struggled to fit into the team that developed without him, Menifield could serve as a replacement for what the Hogs would be missing from both players.

Arkansas still has transfer portal visitors coming, which indicates there will be more roster departures. However, if everyone stays and this is it for the Razorbacks, it will still be another highly successful transfer portal season under Musselman.

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