Graham indicates likely return to Razorbacks for a second season

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas coach Eric Musselman may be looking to have more experience on next year’s roster.

Especially if they can find ways to score.

If Jalen Graham is coming back for a second year with the Razorbacks as he indicated in a social media post Wednesday that seems to point towards experience.

It’s a good bet the senior coming back for a bonus season didn’t do to catch anybody by surprise.

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— jalen graham (@jalengrahamm5) April 6, 2023

Graham appeared in 31 games for Arkansas in 2022-23, averaging 5.2 points and 2.3 rebounds over 9.4 minutes per contest coming off the bench for the Hogs, but his playing time seemed sporadic.

He never seemed to have a consistent role in the rotation, but had enough offensive outbursts to get everybody expecting it more often.

Exactly how all that was decided never really got clarified.

Graham had 16 points on 8-of-10 shooting in SEC play at home against Alabama and at South Carolina. His best game of the season was a 28-point performance on 12-of-15 shooting from the field with seven boards against Florida on Feb. 18.

He spent three seasons at Arizona State, making the All-Pac 12 second team in his final season with the Sun Devils in 2021-22.

If Musselman can get him in the lineup on a regular basis, he could be a valuable offensive asset if his defensive liabilities improve.

What Graham does bring is experience in the SEC and a history of being able to be a factor on the offensive end, particularly scoring. That had some mysterious disappearances in games all year.

It’s an interesting piece to the puzzle Musselman is trying to put together.