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NCAA Basketball: Early tournament games in 2020-21 to get excited about

LAHAINA, HI - NOVEMBER 22: Fans pack the Lahaina Civic Center to watch the Maui Invitational NCAA college basketball game between the North Carolina Tar Heels and the Oklahoma State Cowboys at the Lahaina Civic Center on November 22, 2016 in Lahaina, Hawaii. (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images)
LAHAINA, HI - NOVEMBER 22: Fans pack the Lahaina Civic Center to watch the Maui Invitational NCAA college basketball game between the North Carolina Tar Heels and the Oklahoma State Cowboys at the Lahaina Civic Center on November 22, 2016 in Lahaina, Hawaii. (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images) /
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LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY – JANUARY 22: Jordan Nwora #33 of the Louisville Cardinals (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY – JANUARY 22: Jordan Nwora #33 of the Louisville Cardinals (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

Arkansas vs Louisville at the MGM Resorts Main Event

After a tenth-place finish in the SEC, Arkansas Basketball will be looking to improve as they bring in a top ten recruitment class. With just two seniors in the starting line-up last year in Jimmy Whitt and Adrio Bailey coach Eric Musselman is looking to integrate four freshman players on his roster who are all four-star recruits.

In addition to the departing seniors, Jalen Harris, and Gabe Osabuotien have entered the transfer portal, with no destination as of yet. The departure of transfers will only create more playing opportunities for top-50 recruit Moses Moody a shooting guard who gets Allen Crabbe comparisons from scouts. As well as point guard KK Robinson and in-state recruits such as 6’9 center Jaylin Williams and point guard Davonte Davis.

Coach Musselman also has the advantage of beginning to contemplate his rotation and offensive schemes right away, as none of his underclassmen have declared for the NBA Draft, and are not projected to be selected if they did. Not only should coach Musselman be excited about next season, but fans as well. The icing on the cake would be an early match-up against a team that has plenty of eyes on them.

Coach Chris Mack will be juggling considerably more balls in the air than Eric Musselman for the next month or so. Everything from recruits to underclassmen is unclear. The only thing Louisville Basketball knows is that seniors Steven Enoch, Dwayne Sutton, Ryan McMahon and Lamar Kimble are not returning. Luckily for Louisville fans, no players have made their desire for a transfer official, but the NBA Draft may cause even more problems.

Leading scorer Jordan Nwora has not officially declared for the 2020 NBA Draft, but he can still decide to remain at Louisville as he is currently projected to drafted in the top 40. If he does choose to return, it would be a huge win for Louisville for they already have one player who has his eyes on the NBA. No.1 ranked incoming freshman Jay Scrubb declared for the NBA Draft just over four months from signing his letter of intent with Louisville. The upside is he has yet to sign with an agent and perhaps with the NBA on hold, he chooses a year of college.

Regardless of Scrubb’s decision, Louisville has two four-star forwards entering the program. Although not as highly touted as Scrubb, both D’Andre Davis, and JJ Traynor hover around the top 100 ranking which is enough to pique a certain degree of interest. No matter what, Arkansas will be a team ready to live up to the name “Main Event” and it will be interesting to see if Nwora and Scrubb join Louisville to raise the excitement even more.