Arkansas basketball and head coach Eric Musselman have made a portal splash with the transfer commitment from former UMass forward Josh Cohen.
The 6-10, 220-pound Lincroft (N.J.) native provides significant scoring punch to a bare frontcourt for the Razorbacks. The sixth-year senior has one season of eligibility remaining.
Cohen was Arkansas’ first confirmed visitor since the transfer portal window opened and announced his pledge to the Hogs on the heels of a stop at Notre Dame. He also considered Xavier, Penn State and others.
In 2023-24, Cohen was a first-team All-Atlantic 10 selection for the Minutemen where he averaged 15.9 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game on 54.4% shooting from the field and career-highs of 34.4% from three and 70% at the charity stripe.
KenPom ranked Cohen as one of the five top players in the Atlantic 10 and he finished among the top 30 players in the country in fouls drawn per 40 minutes (6.7) and free-throw rate (69.7).
The crafty post-up forward recorded four double-doubles on the year and dropped a season-high 28 points on three separate occasions against Portland, Old Dominion and Loyola (Chicago).
“Cohen is a really, really skilled back-to-the-basket big,” Pedro Gray Soares, assistant sports editor at the Massachusetts Daily Collegian, said. “He can be a lethal low-post scorer and the centerpiece of an offense because he’s incredibly underrated as a passer. He’s among the best at getting to the foul line, too. But to me, his most impressive qualities were his ability to use his large frame to skillfully shield off the defender and create space for a shot, and his consistent improvement on the defensive end.
“Frank Martin criticized his pick-and-roll defense constantly, but equally praised it as it improved considerably toward the final third of the season.”
Cohen started his career and made a name for himself at Saint Francis where he was a two-time all-league selection and was named NEC Co-Player of the Year in 2022-23.
In that season, Cohen averaged 21.8 points and 8.3 rebounds per contest and poured in 40 points in matchups against Hawaii and Lehigh.
Cohen was named the NEC Most Improved Player the prior year (2021-22) after seeing his production spike to 12.9 points and 7.0 rebounds per game.
While Cohen has spent his career in the low and mid-major ranks, he has fared quite well against high-level competition the past two seasons.
Against nationally ranked or power-conference opponents last season, Cohen went for 19 points and 7 rebounds in a win over West Virginia, had 10 points and 3 boards vs. Georgia Tech and just missed a double-double with 15 points and 9 rebounds against Dayton.
“As for what he was like to watch, honestly it was perplexing at times — in a great way,” Gray Soares said. “I always said he had a ton of Nikola Jokic in his game; a big-bodied center who can step outside to pass, uses his frame well in post-ups, has amazing footwork and is extremely skilled at finishing at the rim.
“The perplexing part of his game is the unorthodox shots he hits constantly, which show his great touch and Jokic-like skillset.”
The previous season with Saint Francis, Cohen had an 18-point, 7-rebound performance against Butler, an 18-point, 10-rebound double-double at Ohio State and exploded for 30 points and nine boards at Miami.
For his career, Cohen has scored 1,626 points and grabbed 745 total rebounds with 18 double-doubles.
ESPN’s Jeff Borzello has Cohen ranked as the No. 13 available transfer, and On3.com currently has him listed as the fifth-best center in the portal.
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