Arkansas Basketball: Projected rotation and minutes for 2022-23 season

Center

Projected starter: Jalen Graham (21 mpg)

The 6’9 transfer forward from Arizona State averaged 9.9 ppg and 4.6 rpg this past season in under 24 mpg, while also blocking nearly two shots a game. As pure low-post scorers go, Graham is the best of the new frontcourt players and most likely to score well at the five-spot. He may not be a 30 mpg performer at the SEC level but Graham’s solid overall and with the frontcourt depth around him will be a good replacement for Jaylin Williams.

Reserve: Makhel Mitchell (15 mpg), Makhi Mitchell (4 mpg)

Ideally, the Mitchell twins can play exclusively at the center position and split the other 20 or so minutes, Makhel is 6’10 and 255 pounds and averaged a team-leading 10.7 ppg, as well as 2.4 bpg. Arkansas has four frontcourt players that can block shots so, in a way, it can be 40 minutes of hell offensively for some interior players next season. And with so much depth, they can collectively outlast opposing frontcourts and wear down other bigs.

Another potential lineup to watch

Coach Musselman tends to play 7-8 guys at the most and there are so many options on this roster that I failed to even mention three top-100 incoming freshmen (Joseph Pinion, Barry Dunning,  Derrian Ford) in this piece. There’s certainly a chance that at least one of them will make me eat my words and if that happens, look for Black and/or Walsh to play mostly at the four-spot.

And in that case, it could force the four frontcourt transfers to vie for the 40 minutes at center. Since all four of them are good interior defenders, Arkansas couldn’t go wrong there. One thing is for certain, it’ll be interesting to see the daily lineups for the team starting in November.