Men's Basketball
With one player leaving, Hogs’ Eric Musselman got some good news
After Nick Smith Jr. announced he wasn’t coming back, another key player will be coming back for Razorbacks.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — While it’s a good guess Arkansas coach Eric Musselman probably knew all these moves in advance and now they are starting to come out.
Trevon Brazile’s announcement on social media he will be coming back was good news Thursday afternoon.
enough said ? pic.twitter.com/xcFsUeKZho
— TB (@trevonbrazile2) March 30, 2023
Especially after Nick Smith Jr. had earlier in the day announced he was heading to the NBA, but exactly where he lands in all that is for others to figure out later.
He is returning for his junior season with the Razorbacks inext season and announced via his social media on Thursday. The news comes as a major boost for the Razorbacks, who now have a foundation piece to build the roster around this spring.
Brazile, a native of Springfield (Mo.), was one of college basketball’s breakout performers in the early portions of the season as he skyrocketed up draft boards and over helpless defenders as a human highlight-reel for the Hogs before sustaining a season-ending ACL tear on Dec. 6.
In nine games, Brazile averaged 11.8 points, 6 rebounds and more than one block, assist and steal per contest. He shot 48.1 percent from the field, 37.1 percent from beyond the arc and 67.7 percent from the charity stripe.
The Hogs would have been better through some rough stretches when they desperately needed somebody who could step up and knock down shots.
He had a 21-point, 12-rebound double-double in his Razorback debut against North Dakota State on Nov. 7. He had 20 points, including a trio of three-pointers, and nine rebounds in the Hogs’ overtime win against San Diego State at the Maui Invitational and finished with a season-high 23 points in his final full game of the season against San Jose State on Dec. 3.