NCAA Basketball: UNC, Villanova, Arkansas and Memphis takeaways from Battle 4 Atlantis

4th place – Arkansas Razorbacks

Positive takeaway: Tramon Mark is the go-to guy on the roster

In the offseason, Coach Eric Musselman landed a ton of scoring guards from the transfer portal, all of whom put up numbers at their previous spots. The question was always going to be how the pecking order worked out and in the past week, it was clear that Mark is going to be the guy.

The transfer from Houston averaged around 24 ppg in the event, including a career-high 34 points against North Carolina. He suffered a bad fall and potential back injury but the hope is that he doesn’t miss much time going forward. Although they went 1-2, seeing Mark emerge as a clear top option helps the development process of this new roster.

Negative takeaway: El Ellis starting to fall out of the rotation

In the four games before the Battle 4 Atlantis, Ellis was averaging 14.5 ppg, including 19 pts in the loss to UNC Greensboro. But for some reason, he did literally nothing in the tournament, scoring zero points combined on 0/10 FG and playing a total of 36 minutes through three games.

The Louisville transfer was putting up nearly 20 ppg but the emergence of Mark means that his scoring isn’t as needed. And with Khalif Battle already the team’s 6th Man, it leaves Ellis without a clear role. And if freshman guard Layden Blocker becomes the preferred ball-handler going forward, this senior guard could find his minutes dwindling in the next month.