Musselman has eyes on rapidly-approaching portal season

The transfer portal window opens a week from Monday, but Eric Musselman and the Razorback staff already have eyes on the developing market.

While the floodgates officially open after Selection Sunday, names of soon-to-be available prospects are already trickling out via social media channels.

When a player pops up, the staff gets straight into the source vetting and evaluation process to determine if a pursuit is warranted when the time comes.

“We’re looking at it. We’ve made phone calls,” Musselman said. “There’s not a lot in the portal. There might be stuff on social media that says a guy is going in, but until a guy actually shows up in the portal in the NCAA database…”

“There’s a couple names that will pop up in there that we’ll evaluate and do what we can and recruit the minute… After we evaluate, it gets to are you going to make phone calls or not.”

So, who might the early names be that Musselman is referring to?

Pepperdine forward Jevon Porter stands out. The 6-11 stretch is the younger brother of NBA wing Michael Porter Jr. and is coming off a season where he averaged 16 points, six rebounds and nearly two assists for the Waves.

Instate wing Camren Hunter — who missed this season with injury but was an early target with some buzz last offseason after averaging 16.9 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.9 assists at UCA — is set to be available again.

On Monday, other enticing prospects like Southern Utah forward Parsa Fallah (13.2 ppg/6.0 rpg), Coastal Carolina guard Jacob Meyer (15.7 ppg/40% 3FG) and UT Martin wing Jacob Crews (19.4 ppg/42% 3FG) announced their intentions to hit the portal.

While Arkansas’ focus is on extending its season at the SEC Tournament this week in Nashville, do not be fooled into believing the staff is ignoring what will be another program shaping offseason ahead.

“Before Elite Eight games we’ve been doing Zooms,” Musselman said. “If you’re playing for an Elite Eight and an opportunity to make a Final Four and you’re doing Zooms, then we’re going to be working to the best of our ability right now.

“The most important thing is to prepare for Vanderbilt. That’s the front seat, and then the backseat would be recruiting and working the portal as names pop up in there.”