Hog wild in Year 1?

Good morning! Hope you enjoyed your weekend. There are only seven more until the college basketball season begins. Better check off that list of projects while you can.

1. Arkansas’ ceiling depends on its backcourt

The biggest offseason move didn’t happen in the transfer portal. It was the coaching change that took John Calipari from Kentucky to Arkansas.

Oddly enough, it was a move that required some dominoes to fall first, but there’s little doubt it’s a move that both programs and fan bases have embraced. Razorbacks fans and boosters have given Calipari plenty of resources to build out a roster.

However, how good is that roster? Is there enough there to contend for an SEC title in Year 1?

Rob Dauster and Jeff Goodman break down the variables.

There’s one thing they both agree on: Johnell Davis, who starred at FAU the last two seasons, raises the competitive floor.

The 6-3 senior was really good during the Owls’ 2022-23 season when they reached the Final Four (13.8 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 1.6 apg and 36% from deep). Yet Davis made a leap last season when he improved his overall — 18.2 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 2.9 apg and 41% from 3) — and did with without sacrificing his efficiency. Davis is highly competitive and excels with the ball in his hands. In many ways, he’s the known component of the team. Jonas Aidoo and Adou Thiero will play hard and elevate the defense, but Davis likely will be the man.

So where does that leave DJ Wagner?

The former 5-star prospect was once the top-ranked player in his class. He had a solid (9.9 ppg, 3.3 apg), but not great season (29.2% from beyond the arc), and his progression as a point guard will be the deciding factor on Arkansas’ ceiling this season.

Dauster, John Fanta and Terrence Oglesby debated how high that ceiling is last week. If Wagner leans into point guard tendencies, there’s hope.

If not, well, the SEC isn’t a place to adjust on the fly. The league is too deep and has too much talent for missteps. Torvik projects Arkansas to finish 7th in the SEC (behind Kentucky, and just ahead of Florida, Ole Miss and Georgia).

But … this isn’t a make-or-break season for Arkansas. Calipari remains an elite recruiter (he’s already got the top point guard in the class of 2025) and has been candid about how many scholarships players he wants at any one time. How he mixes incoming talent with any (potential) schematic adjustments will determine the program’s overall success.

I’m just as interested in what Year 2 and 3 look like at Arkansas as this season.

2. Creighton’s biggest recruit yet

OK, “biggest” might be too general for that headline. “Most notable” or “highest-rated” would be more apt, but I kinda liked the way “biggest recruit yet” sounded. (shrugs)

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