Loser – Arkansas Razorbacks
Head Coach Eric Musselman has done a tremendous job building Arkansas into a perennial power and is doing his best to turn the Razorbacks into the premier program in the SEC. It is not a mistake to see them on the list of the biggest losers on NBA draft decision day. Yes, I know they have 5-star freshmen coming in everywhere, were extremely active in the transfer portal, and are coming off two straight successful seasons.
They are on this list because they are still going to have some holes that they were hoping this player was going to be able to patrol the paint and give them an experienced leader to help bring the freshman along. Jaylin Williams was poised for an SEC Player of the Year type of run. The big man decided to enter the draft at the end of the year, but didn’t hire an agent, at least initially which gives the teams a lot of hope that he would come back for his junior season and continue to dominate.
That was not the case as the NBA saw what everyone has been seeing all along and it was tons of athleticism with a lot of skill as a basketball player. Williams can do everything, he scores in the paint, he can shoot the ball from deep, and he is a great rebounder and defender. He shut down Drew Timme in this year’s tournament and was a huge reason that Arkansas won that game and advanced to the Elite Eight. In the Elite Eight round he held his own against the two big men from Duke, and even though Arkansas lost the game his performance in those two tournament games cemented his legacy.
The Razorbacks were a trendy pick for preseason number one but without Williams, who was their most experienced player and likely leader, it is going to be hard to put them there confidently. They will likely still hover around the top 10 all year, but this loss means a lot for Arkansas. They have so many new pieces and those teams do sometimes take a while to gel. Williams was going to provide them much-needed experience and a dominant post presence. This loss could hurt a bit for the Razorbacks.