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Oct 26, 2023

Arkansas Weekend Visit Primer

To many Arkansas Razorback fans, it was a pleasant surprise when guard Davonte

To many Arkansas Razorback fans, it was a pleasant surprise when guard Davonte Davis announced his decision to take his name out of the NBA Draft and return to Fayetteville for another season. A similar sentiment was felt by Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman, who was unsure of what Davis' final decision might be, right up to the final deadline.

There's no doubt that Davis is a vital piece for the Razorbacks to get back. As the longest-tenured Hog on the roster, Davis has been an integral part of three lengthy runs in the NCAA Tournament at Arkansas, delivering several clutch performances along the way.

After Davis initially decided to test the NBA Draft waters and go through the process, Musselman and his staff weren't sure if they needed to be preparing to replace one of their top players or not, and that clarity never really came until the day of Davis' final announcement right before the May 31st deadline for athletes to remove their names from the draft.

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"We really did not know about Devo's decision until the very, very end," Musselman said. "So, we’re putting together the roster not knowing what Devo might do. We truly didn't know what he was going to do as he was going through that process. Obviously, his NBA workout with the Bucks happened the day before the deadline, so he's in Milwaukee the day before the deadline to either keep your name in the draft or come back to play college basketball.

"The thing with Davonte is he loves Arkansas so much. His mother, his grandparents, his inner circle. Everybody there wanted to give him his time, his space. You have to digest this stuff, and that's not an easy thing to do."

Though the process to get there was unique, Musselman feels that Davis and his skill set will fit right into the mold of what they have been trying to accomplish while building the current Arkansas roster.

"We’ve got a lot of guys who can play multiple positions," Musselman said. "You look defensively at a guy like T-Mark (Tramon Mark) from Houston, and he's got great versatility defensively. Obviously, we know that Devo Davis is one of the best defenders in the entire country.

"Those two guys together defensively are really, really good because Mark guarded a lot of guys with Houston, their opposing best wings. Devo has done that for us now for three years."

As a junior for the Razorbacks during the 2022-23 season, Davis averaged a career-best 10.9 points per game while grabbling 4.4 rebounds a game and dishing out 2.5 assists per game. Two of his best games of the season came in the NCAA Tournament as he scored 16 points on 7-of-14 in the opening round against Illinois before dropping a season-high 25 points on 9-of-15 from the floor to lead Arkansas past No. 1 Kansas.