It’s been a dog’s age since Arkansas basketball has been as highly thought of as the Razorbacks will be next year.
The injection of five top-100 recruits in the Class of 2022, including three five-star players, and four transfers plus the return of starting guard Devo Davis and the potential return of forward Jaylin Williams has national pundits thinking the Razorbacks could be the class of the SEC.
Accordingly, CBS Sports boosted the Hogs in their offseason college basketball rankings. Arkansas checked in at No. 3 in the early May edition, up two spots, leaping Kentucky and Baylor, two teams that lost players to the transfer portal since the last edition of the rankings.
Williams’ status change could alter things. Based off CBS ‘write-up, the rankings are based on the working theory Williams will return to school. He declared for the draft in early April but didn’t hire an agent, leaving open a possible return to the Razorbacks.
Earlier this week, Williams was offered to participate in the NBA combine later in May. He has until June 13 to decide whether or not to stay in the draft or return to school. Should he return, Arkansas could pop itself ahead of North Carolina and Houston. If he leaves, it’s likely the Hogs would fall like the Wildcats and Bears.
Even if Arkansas were to drop, it wouldn’t be far and the Hogs would still likely have their highest preseason ranking in a generation come November.