No. 12 Arkansas Razorbacks: Projected Rotation & Season Outlook
Arkansas will be losing a lot of top talent -- Darius Acuff Jr. (23.5 PPG), Meleek Thomas (15.6 PPG) and Trevon Brazile (13.0 PPG) -- but it is bringing in quite a bit to try to make up for it. Coach John Calipari landed a trio of 5-star recruits and one of the top international prospects out there.
Let's start with Jordan Smith Jr. who is a consensus top-3 recruit coming out of the high school ranks who does everything well. Smith is a bit undersized at 6-2, but he is exceptionally talented in all areas of the game. He is great at getting downhill to the basket, can run an offense and distribute the ball, crashes the glass and can lock down the opposing team's best perimeter player. He will immediately slot in as the team's starting point guard. Georgia transfer Jeremiah Wilkinson will start alongside Smith in the backcourt after putting up 17.4 PPG last season with the Bulldogs.
JJ Andrews and Abdou Toure are the other two 5-star freshman. Andrews could potentially start as well, as he offers a 6-7 frame on the wing who can score at any level. He also has the wingspan to be disruptive on the defensive end. Toure has a similar build, but will remind Razorback fans more of Billy Richmond as a physical SF/PF who gets to the rim with bad intentions. The outside shot remains more of a work in progress, though. Toure should be able to learn quite a bit from Richmond who was great once jumping into a starting role last season (15.0 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 2.5 APG, 1.5 SPG, 1.1 BPG over the final 15 games).
Miikka Muurinen is the top international freshman coming in. He is the prototypical modern stretch 4-man who measured in at 7-0 and has an excellent shooting stroke that extends beyond the three-point line. He'll have to continue to get stronger to match up with some other intimidating frontcourts in the SEC, but there's no question the skillset is something coaches could only dream of for a player at that size. Furman transfer Cooper Bowser should be a pretty easy Day 1 starter to slot in at the center position to round out the frontcourt.
Coach Cal and Arkansas won the SEC Tournament and made the Sweet Sixteen last season, but defense needs to be a far bigger priority if they are going to get to where they want to go. Scoring will not be an issue again given the skill sets of the players they brought in, but coach Cal needs to get them to buy in on the other end. Arkansas gave up 117, 111 and 109 points in its last three losses last season.
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2026-27 Arkansas Basketball Projected Starting Lineup:
PG: Jordan Smith Jr. (No. 2 in SC Next 100)
SG: Jeremiah Wilkinson (17.4 PPG, 2.5 3PM at Georgia)
SF: Billy Richmond (11.2 PPG)
PF: Miikka Muurinen (5-Star International Freshman)
C: Cooper Bowser (13.8 PPG, 5.9 RPG at Furman)
Key Reserves: JJ Andrews (No. 13 in SC Next 100), Abdou Toure (No. 15 in SC Next 100), Maper Maker (International Freshman), Isaiah Sealy (2.9 PPG), Paulo Semedo (Redshirt)
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