Anthony Black makes it official, signing letter of intent with Razorbacks

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Anthony Black, a five-star guard and McDonald’s All-American, became the sixth high school signee to solidify Arkansas’ best recruiting class in program history, Razorbacks coach Eric Musselman announced today.

“Anthony brings so many things to the Razorback family and makes this overall class a diverse group with many strengths,” Musselman said. “He has proven at the highest levels that he is deserving of his many accolades.

“His skillset for a person of his size is rare, especially at this stage of his career. He has tremendous length and can guard multiple positions. He is not only an excellent and willing passer, but he can use his athleticism to get his own shot from all three levels of the floor.

“Like the others in this class, he has a winning background and is a tremendous competitor.”

According to ESPN, 247Sports and Rivals, Arkansas Black’s addition to the Razorback class from this past fall has Arkansas listed as the second-best recruiting class in the nation, trailing Duke, and the consensus No. 1 class in the SEC.

Black is the third McDonald’s All-American to sign with the Razorbacks this year, joining fellow 5-stars Nick Smith Jr., and Jordan Walsh.

Black additionally played with Smith on USA Basketball’s USA Nike Hoop Summit team and Black has been selected to play in the Iverson Classic.

Black is a consensus top 25 player, including a high of No. 12 nationally on the Sports Illustrated top 99 prospects list, and is rated the No. 1 point guard in the nation by 247Sports.

He is additionally No. 5 on the 2023 NBA Mock Draft (No. 3 college player) by NBADraftRoom.com and No. 8 by NBADraft.net.

Black led Duncanville to the 6A Texas state championship, and he was named the finals MVP. The Panthers were 35-1 and crowned 2021-22 MaxPreps National Champions after finishing No. 1 in its final poll.

Anthony Black | 6-7, 185, G
Duncanville High School | Duncanville, Texas

• Member of USA Basketball’s 2022 USA Nike Hoop Summit Team

• McDonald’s All-American

• Selected for the Iverson Classic

• MaxPreps All-American (honorable mention)

• Jersey Mike’s Naismith High School Player of the Year Watch List

• No. 12 on the SI99 All-American list

• 247Sports (5 Star) — No. 14 nation / No. 1 PG

• ESPN (5 Star) — No. 15 nation / No. 8 SF

• Rivals (5 Star) — No. 19 nation / No. 5 SG

• 247Composite (5 Star) — No. 22 nation / No. 3 PG

• No. 5 on the 2023 NBA Mock Draft (No. 3 college player) by NBADraftRoom.com and No. 8 by NBADraft.net

• Rated No. 3 player from the state of Texas by ESPN and 247Sports (behind fellow signee Jordan Walsh)

• Earned TABC All-State honors in 2022

• Led Duncanville to the 2022 Texas 6A state championship … Named Texas 6A State Tournament MVP thanks to scoring 17 points in the 69-49 title game win over McKinney

• 2022 District 11-6A Offensive Player of Year

• Played just 15 regular-season games as a senior due to transfer regulations, but averaged 13.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.2 steals

• Duncanville was 35-1 … In the final national polls, ranked No. 1 by MaxPreps, No. 2 in both the SB Live/Sports Illustrated Power 25 and ESPN national rankings and No. No. 3 in USA TODAY Sports Super 25

• Began high school career at Coppell HS where he was a second-team all-area selection as a junior … Averaged 16.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2 steals per game

• Was also a 3-Star recruit as a wide receiver getting offers from Arkansas, Baylor and Texas among others

• His father, Terry Black, is in the Baylor Sports Hall of Fame (2015) as a standout for the Bear’s basketball program

2022 Signing Class Notes:

• Highest rated recruiting class in school history (Consensus No. 2 in the nation and Consensus No. 1 in the SEC)

• Only school with six players on the Sports Illustrated All-American SI99 and six rated among the ESPN top 100

• First time for Arkansas to sign two — much less three — 5-stars (Nick Smith Jr., Jordan Walsh and Anthony Black) in the same class

• In fact, Arkansas now has only signed seven, 5-stars since 2004 while Smith, Walsh and Black are the only three Razorback signees to rank among the ESPN top 15 (dating back to 2007).

• Nick Smith Jr., Jordan Walsh and Anthony Black were McDonald’s All-Americans … Smith and Walsh have been selected for the Jordan Brand Game and Black for the Iverson Classic

• Smith was 1 of 5 finalists for the Naismith High School Player of the Year. Smith and Walsh were Naismith All-Americans while Walsh and Black were on the Naismith Player of the Year Watch List.

• Arkansas had never had a class with at least four players among the ESPN top 100 until Eric Musselman’s arrival and his staff has now done so twice (class of 2020 and class of 2022).

• Since 2004, only four Arkansas recruiting classes have ranked among the top 10 and Musselman’s staff owns two of those – class of 2020 was No. 5 ESPN / No. 9 247Sports and class of 2022 ranks No. 2 in ESPN, 247Sports and Rivals.

• Signed three MaxPreps state Players of the Year (Barry Dunning, Smith and Walsh) while both Dunning and Darrian Ford were named their state’s Gatorade Players of the Year for the second consecutive season.

• Duncanville (Black), Link Academy (Walsh) and North Little Rock (Smith) finished among the top 15 in the national polls.

• Smith, Walsh and Black are all rated among the top 25 prospects by both ESPN and 247Sports Composite.

• The class includes three MaxPreps state Players of the Year (Dunning, Smith and Walsh).

• The class includes three of their states’ top prospects (Dunning, Smith and Walsh).

• The class includes three state champions (Black, Ford and Smith).