Arkansas made the biggest splash of the offseason earlier this month when they poached former Kentucky coach John Calipari to replace Eric Musselman, who left for the vacant job at USC. One of the ripple effects of Calipari’s departure resulted in Kentucky hiring BYU coach and former player Mark Pope to replace him.
Kentucky had the No. 2 overall recruiting class in the 247Sports rankings, but the class has since been reduced from six to one. One of Calipari’s former commits at Kentucky (four-star forward Karter Knox) flipped his commitment to Arkansas to play for Calipari. Knox’s older brother, Kevin Knox ll, played for Calipari at Kentucky during the 2017-18 season.
Calipari’s second high school commitment of the offseason came from another former player from his recruiting class at Kentucky. Calipari landed four-star guard Boogie Fland shortly on Thursday.
There is still plenty of work for Calipari and his staff to do to form a complete roster ahead of the season that starts in less than seven months. The first commitment of the Calipari era at Arkansas was another familiar face in Zvonimir Ivišić, who played at Kentucky last season.
CBS Sports is tracking the status of the Arkansas roster and recruiting class in real time. Here’s where every current Arkansas player and commitment currently stand.
Arkansas newcomers
Zvonimir Ivišić (Transfer from Kentucky)
GP: 15 | GS: 0 | PPG: 5.5 | RPG: 3.3
While Ivišić didn’t play a ton during his freshman season, he made an impact when he played. Hours after he was ruled eligible by the NCAA on Jan. 20, Ivišić recorded 13 points, five rebounds, and a pair of assists in his collegiate debut. Days after Ivišić entered the transfer portal, he announced he would follow Calipari and had committed to Arkansas. He should see a larger role in Year 2.
Arkansas players not expected to return
Tramon Mark (In transfer portal)
GP: 31 | GS: 28 | PPG: 16.2 | RPG: 4.3
Mark will be looking for his third school in three years after transferring into the program from Houston last offseason. The 6-foot-6 guard is coming off the best season of his career and posted a career-high in points. Mark should have plenty of suitors for his services.
Khalif Battle (In transfer portal)
GP: 32 | GS: 13 | PPG: 14.8 | RPG: 3.3
Battle started his career at Butler during the 2019-20 campaign before transferring to Temple. Battle spent three seasons with Temple before spending his only season with the Razorbacks. Battle’s next and final stop of his college career will be his fourth school. He entered the transfer portal earlier this month.
Makhi Mitchell (Out of eligibility)
GP: 33 | GS: 5 | PPG: 8.6 | RPG: 4.6
Mitchell averaged 8.6 points and started five games for Arkansas this past season. Before his arrival in Fayetteville, Arkansas, he had stops at Maryland and Rhode Island.
Trevon Brazile (Declared for NBA Draft)
GP: 26 | GS: 23 | PPG: 8.6 | RPG: 5.9
Brazile declared for the 2024 NBA Draft after averaging 8.6 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks per game. Brazile started his career at Missouri before transferring to Arkansas ahead of the 2022-23 season.
Keyon Menifield Jr. (In transfer portal)
GP: 14 | GS: 4 | PPG: 7.9 | RPG: 2.1
Menifield started 21 games during his freshman season at Washington before transferring to Arkansas. He started four games and appeared in 14 total games. He will be looking for his third school in three years.
Jalen Graham (Out of eligibility)
GP: 21 | GS: 5 | PPG: 7.6 | RPG: 3.0
After spending the first three years of his career at Arizona State, Graham transferred to Arkansas. He averaged 7.6 points in his final college season.
El Ellis (Out of eligibility)
GP: 31 | GS: 22 | PPG: 6.5 | RPG: 2.0
The former Louisville guard averaged 17.7 points and 4.4 assists during the 2022-23 campaign. He started 22 games in his final college season at Arkansas and averaged a career-low 6.5 points per game.
Davonte Davis (In transfer portal)
GP: 30 | GS: 23 | PPG: 5.9 | RPG: 3.4
The former three-star prospect committed to Arkansas in the 2020 recruiting cycle and spent the last four seasons with the program. The highlight of his Arkansas career was a 25-point outburst in a win over Kansas in the second round of the 2023 NCAA Tournament.
Jeremiah Davenport (Out of eligibility)
GP: 31 | GS: 8 | PPG: 5.0 | RPG: 1.8
Davenport spent the first four seasons of his college career at Cincinnati before transferring to Arkansas last offseason. He appeared in 31 games and averaged 5.0 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.9 assists.
Layden Blocker (In transfer portal)
GP: 27 | GS: 5 | PPG: 3.7 | RPG: 1.6
The former four-star prospect from the 2023 recruiting cycle averaged 3.7 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 1.0 assists during his freshman season in Fayetteville. Blocker entered the transfer portal last month.
Chandler Lawson (Out of eligibility)
GP: 33 | GS: 27 | PPG: 3.7 | RPG: 3.1
Lawson was a four-star prospect in the 2019 recruiting cycle and had stops at Oregon and Memphis before spending his final college season with Arkansas. Lawson started 27 games and made 33 total appearances.
Joseph Pinion (In transfer portal)
GP: 19 | GS: 1 | PPG: 2.4 | RPG: 0.6
Pinion entered the transfer portal after appearing in 19 games this past season with Arkansas. He made 26 appearances during the 2022-23 campaign.
Baye Fall (In transfer portal)
GP: 9 | GS: 0 | PPG: 0.8 | RPG: 1.3
Fall entered the transfer portal after making nine appearances this past season. Fall was the No. 29 overall player in the 2023 recruiting cycle by 247Sports.
Denijay Harris (In transfer portal)
GP: 11 | GS: 1 | PPG: 0.6 | RPG: 0.8
Harris entered the transfer portal after appearing in 11 games this past season. He spent the three years before that at Southern Miss.
Arkansas recruits no longer committed
No. 45 Isaiah Elohim (Committed to USC)
The former Arkansas signee requested a release from his National Letter of Intent shortly after Musselman took the job at USC. Elohim committed to USC on Monday.
No. 72 Jalen Shelley
Like Elohim, Shelley de-committed from Arkansas shortly after the coaching change. Shelley committed to the Razorbacks out of high school over Louisville, Alabama, Creighton, Houston, and more. He is expected to have plenty of suitors for his services because he is one of the top uncommitted players on the board.
Arkansas’ incoming recruiting class
Kentucky finished with a top-five recruiting class every cycle since 247Sports started tracking team rankings in 2010 under Calipari. The Wildcats landed the No. 1 recruiting class in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2020, and 2023 under his watch. But in an era when age and experience rule the day in college basketball, relying so heavily on one-and-done prospects began to hurt Kentucky in recent seasons. Kentucky’s 2024 recruiting star-studded class ranked only behind Duke in the team rankings. Most of Calipari’s previous commits at Kentucky are expected to at least give Arkansas a look before deciding where they will play next season.
Here is a look at Arkansas’ roster and incoming recruiting class with 247Sports rankings.
No. 20 Karter Knox (Previously committed to Kentucky)
Knox committed to Kentucky on March 9 over Louisville, USF, and a return to Overtime Elite. He was the highest-ranked high school player on the board available after former Indiana signee Liam McNeeley requested a release from his NLI. Knox’s brother, Kobe, is a current player at USF. Former Kentucky assistant coach Kenny Payne, now on Calipari’s staff at Arkansas, helped recruit Kevin to Kentucky and attempted to recruit Karter to Louisville before his firing.
No. 26 Boogie Fland
The McDonald’s All-American is one of the best combo guards in the country and ranked only behind Rutgers signee Dylan Harper for the top player at the position. Fland originally committed to Kentucky over Alabama, UConn, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, and St. John’s. Fland followed Calipari to Arkansas and will play for the Razorbacks this season.
