Recruiting: Arkansas Razorbacks Hoping to Keep Two Top Hogs in the Pen

By Chris Godfrey | Sep 23, 2015

Little Rock native Eric Curry may be the nation’s most important three-star prospect at this juncture of the recruiting season. The six-foot-eight power forward used a strong summer to vault into the Rivals 150, gaining the attention of some major programs in the process.

He’ll be making his final decision between three power conference schools that are looking to maintain their current momentum by landing a capable big man who could produce immediately thanks to his length and athleticism.

Curry will be deciding between Arkansas, Minnesota, and Iowa State. Each of the schools could use a talent of Curry’s caliber, but his hometown team has a bit more at stake than just Curry’s signature.

The Arkansas Razorbacks are particularly adamant about keeping their best in-state players home for college, which means that Curry automatically becomes a high priority. Maybe most importantly, Curry is a summer teammate of Malik Monk, a consensus top ten prospect that is also considering the Razorbacks. The duo are two of the more highly sought after prospects in the Arkansas Wings program.

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The Razorbacks are likely hoping that a commitment from Curry will help persuade Monk to stay in-state as well. Monk has not announced a final list of contending schools, but Arkansas or Kentucky are perceived to be his likely destination.

Monk has numerous ties to the Arkansas athletic program. His brother Marcus was a standout receiver on the Razorback football team and a key reserve on the basketball team. The elder of the two Monk brothers also returned to the school to serve as a graduate assistant under Razorback basketball coach Mike Anderson. In addition to the strong immediate family ties, the Monks are also related to Rashad Madden, a point guard on last year’s team.

By comparison, the relationship between Monk and Curry is insignificant, but it’s important in the sense that Curry will be able to impact Monk’s experience on the court as a Razorback. Monk will surely play with a higher level of talent if he commits to Kentucky, but the opportunity to beat Kentucky at Arkansas has a more sentimental appeal — especially if Curry is along for the ride.

It should be noted that Kentucky head coach John Calipari has made Monk a top priority as well, which has Arkansas fans sweating profusely. If anyone could pry away a prospect with such strong family ties to another school, it would be the newly minted Hall of Famer, Coach Cal.

Despite all that uncharacteristically rides on his commitment, Curry isn’t necessarily a lock to stay home and join the recruiting efforts being directed at Monk. Iowa State and Minnesota are both making attractive bids to Curry as well.

In Ames, the Cyclones see Curry as next year’s replacement for player of the year candidate Georges Niang. New head coach Steve Prohm believes that with the right replacement for Niang, his team can be a player in the Big 12 beyond his first season with the team.

As for Minnesota, the Golden Gophers are simply trying to assemble as much talent as possible under Richard Pitino. Curry would join Amir Coffey in a class that Gopher fans hopes to be the first wave of impact prospects that Pitino will use to eventually build a nationally relevant program. The Gophers have shot for the fences on the recruiting trail and have struck out on some top tier names, to still land Curry despite those failures would be adequate consolation.

Despite these overtures, I would still be very surprised if Curry didn’t end up with the Hogs next year. However, the real intrigue will surround the question of whether or not Malik Monk will join him. If he does, the Hogs could have a team that can challenge Kentucky for an SEC crown in the 2016-2017 season.

Next: Four-Star Guard Shamorie Ponds Deciding Between Three Big East Rivals

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