NCAA Basketball: Ranking the top 25 team backcourts for 2022-23 season

It’s an almost completely new backcourt for Arkansas after back-to-back Elite 8 appearances. The lone returning guard on the roster is Davonte Davis, who started 31 of 67 games in the past two years with an 8.4 ppg and 2.5 apg average. He’s had some big games in the past, including 19 points at Florida, along with 26 versus Oklahoma. Davis is a capable ball-handler and passer but his inconsistencies have limited his playing time and spot in the rotation.

It’ll be just as tough to crack next season’s rotation, led by the No. 2 incoming freshmen recruiting class of six players. The star of the group is Nick Smith, a top-3 overall prospect and arguably the best freshman guard in the country and potentially in the 2023 NBA Draft class. The 6’3 combo guard can do just about anything offensively, whether it’s scoring, shooting, or overall playmaking.

Smith makes the Razorbacks a contender next season but there are two other five-star freshmen in 6’7 sharpshooter Jordan Walsh, along with 6’8 swiss army knife Anthony Black, who is an elite defender and quality passer that Coach Eric Musselman will use anywhere on the perimeter.

There are three other top-100 freshmen that could find a way to crack the rotation in Barry Dunning, Joseph Pinion, and Derrian Ford. On almost any other team, they would be projected rotation players but Arkansas has so many guards that one of two of them may have to redshirt.

This doesn’t even include Wichita State transfer Ricky Council IV. The 6’6 guard averaged 12.0 ppg and 5.4 rpg off the bench, including a pair of 20-point games down the stretch and 17 points and 10 rebounds versus Houston. Council provides another veteran presence and capable scorer in the backcourt that is filled with a ton of them.

No team in NCAA Basketball has as much backcourt depth as Arkansas, although two teams have more proven high-end talent.