The 2024-25 Arkansas basketball season should be a memorable one. Legendary Hall of Fame coach John Calipari leads a group of young players and transfers on a quest for an immediate, deep NCAA Tournament run.
The team is already set to make a bit of obscure history, though. The Hogs took to the floor Wednesday night in its win over Lipscomb without a native Arkansan on the team. Officially, every Razorback team since 1947-48 has had at least one such player active, according to HogStats, that gleaming repository of Arkansas basketball history. However, unofficially, it’s a very safe bet that this will be the first time that’s ever happened in program history dating back to the inaugural 1923-24 campaign. In that era, the vast majority of University of Arkansas students were Arkansan, after all.
Lawson Blake, a Fayetteville High School alum and walk-on, is supposed to be active, but is recovering from a ruptured Achilles tendon which will most likely keep him out the entire season. So, there is a very good chance we won’t see an active native Arkansan suiting up this season. That’s quite a streak to have been broken.
While former Hogs coach Eric Musselman is known as The Importer, it’s actually John Calipari who’s shown he deserves that title more in Fayetteville.
Calipari’s Worldwide Roster
Just look at how wide a net he has cast across the globe and nation to get his current team. Sophomore Zvonimir Ivisic, of Vodice, Croatia, wins the award for the Hog that is farthest from home. Calipari also signed players from coast-to-coast of the U.S. with players from New York City (Boogie Fland), Camden, N.J. (D.J. Wagner, Billy Richmond and Kareem Watkins), Tampa, Fla. (Karter Knox) and San Diego, Calif. (Melo Sanchez) and Sun Valley, Calif. (Jaden Karuletwa).
The player who’s hometown is closest to Fayetteville is Trevon Brazile, who hails from Springfield, Mo., which is 151 miles away from campus.
After last season, a few Arkansas natives jumped into the transfer portal. It’s unclear whether these former Razorbacks could have made the cut for this first Calipari team, but all of them have found new homes. Two of them went out of state:
Davonte (Devo) Davis – Oklahoma State
Davis, a Jacksonville High School alum, had an up-and-down career with the Hogs, including back-to-back seasons where he took leaves of absence. After a paltry third season on The Hill, Davis has found a home with the Cowboys.
It looks as though he will play a key role. In Monday’s 89-76 win over Green Bay, he played 22 minutes and scored 10 points while also recording 2 steals and 2 assists.
Layden Blocker – DePaul
Blocker lasted one season at Arkansas. The Little Rock native, who prepped at Little Rock Christian and Sunrise (Kan.) Academy, signed with DePaul in the offseason. I expected Blocker to select a better program with his high school credentials, but DePaul is in the basketball-rich Big East.
Blocker scored five points in 22 minutes of action the in the Blue Demons’ 89-87 overtime win Monday against Southern Indiana, but followed it up with an excellent performance against Prairie View A&M. He finished with 12 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 block and 1 steal in 23 minutes. It may take some time for him to fully blend in, as he is one of 10 transfers on head coach Chris Holtmann’s club.
Arkansas Basketball Natives Elsewhere
While the Natural State cupboard is currently bare on the Hill, the state itself still appears to remain in bit a golden age for producing high-level talent. That’s borne out in looking at how many natives have landed at Division I schools elsewhere.
Here are the most notable examples for 2024-25:
Annor Boateng – Missouri
The freshman from Little Rock Central will fight for playing time, but he didn’t play in the Tigers’ season opener. Boateng helped the Tigers to a Class 6A state title last winter. He was ranked No. 33 in composite rankings averaging 18.4 points and 7.9 rebounds.
Landren Blocker – Louisiana Tech
Layden’s brother, the younger Blocker heads to Ruston, La., after a stellar prep career at Little Rock Christian. The two-time all-stater and defending Class 4A champion played sparingly in Tech’s 77-50 win over LSU-Alexandria. However, he did have the spectacular dunk seen below. I thought Blocker could have played at a bigger school. He should do well for the Bulldogs.
Camren Hunter – Wisconsin
The Bryant High School alum and University of Central Arkansas transfer is in the midst of a run of bad luck. A foot injury ended his season early last year at UCA, and another unspecified injury sidelined him in the Badgers’ blowout of Holy Cross in the opener. Also, according to Wisconsin Badgers on SI, Hunter may have dropped on the depth chart at point guard.
He earned the opportunity at Wisconsin by dominating the Atlantic Sun Conference at UCA, earning Freshman of the Year honors and averaging 16.9 points and 5 rebounds per game.
Issac McBride – Oral Roberts
The former Baptist Prep (Little Rock) star began his college career at Kansas before a short stint at Vanderbilt, but has played three seasons at Oral Roberts. Last season, he started all 31 games averaging 19.8 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists.
Dallas Thomas – Clemson
The Little Rock Parkview four-star recruit chose Clemson over Missouri and Arkansas. He was set to start his freshman season, but has mysteriously been redshirted, in part perhaps because he needs to add more strength to his frame. The surprising news came just ahead of Monday’s opener against Charleston Southern.
Corey Washington – Wichita State
The former North Little Rock High School star made a big impact at Saint Peter’s and parlayed that into a transfer portal move to mid-major power Wichita State. Washington started in Monday’s win at Western Kentucky, but played only 13 minutes. He scored 6 points and pulled down 5 rebounds.
In two seasons at Saint Peter’s, he played in 54 total games and made 47 starts. Washington earned All-MAAC Rookie team honors as a freshman and averaged 15.9 points and 6.3 rebounds his sophomore season.
Quion Williams – Abilene Christian
The junior from Jonesboro scored 20 points in a 107-74 win over Howard Payne in the opener Monday. Williams is in his first season at ACU after playing for two seasons at Oklahoma State, where he started 28 games and averaged more than 7 points and 2 assists per contest.
More Arkansas Talent on the Way?
It’s a sure bet that John Calipari will again have plenty of players in Arkansas to recruit soon. Currently, there are 10 Arkansans in the NBA. Not all of those players would have been recruited by Calipari as a Razorback coach out of high school, but some like Moses Moody and Jaylin Williams would have been — and he even signed one of them, Malik Monk, at Kentucky. Arkansas has more of those types of talents coming.
Little Rock Christian junior J.J. Andrews is one of those standouts who could be a one-and-done at Arkansas. He received an offer this summer. Calipari has also offered Springdale senior Isaiah Sealy, who recently included the Razorbacks in his top four.
And not only will Arkansas reap the rewards of this talent pool, but other programs across the nation will, too. Many of the players listed above are only getting started and will make contributions in the coming years.
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