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Hogs basketball team receiving national attention after McDonald's All-American Game

Rivals national basketball reporter Rob Cassidy says the game in a way "was a commercial for Arkansas basketball."

Nick Smith Jr., Jordan Walsh, and Anthony Black. 

Three Arkansas commits, the future of Razorback hoops, promoted the Arkansas name on the national stage of the McDonald’s All-American game on Monday night.

“Other people at home are watching, other recruits at home are watching," said Rob Cassidy, Rivals national basketball reporter. "They got to kind of see the brand front and center, and I think you can’t really [overstate] how important that is.”

“In a way it was a commercial for Arkansas basketball.”

And after seeing them in person in Chicago, Cassidy says Hog fans should be excited for all three players to get to Fayetteville.

“Anthony Black is going to be having, there aren’t a lot of point guards with that kind of length and that kind of versatility," Cassidy said.

“With Nick Smith, he’s gonna be an exciting scorer. He’s a guy that’s going to take guys off the dribble, might throw down a highlight reel dunk. Will definitely shoot better than he did last night.”

“And with Walsh, I think you’d be excited to see his development. You want to see him take a step forward. He’s going to play hard, he’s going to get on the court after loose balls. He’s going to defend.”

Out of the three, Smith could possibly be the one follow in Moses Moody’s footsteps of making a quick jump to the pros.

“Nick Smith is the guy… I talked with a lot of NBA people this week because they were here. They were allowed to come to the game, and they think he’s a one-and-done," Cassidy said. "They love him, they think he’s probably a lottery pick next year."

"And usually what those guys say comes to fruition.”

And after building a reputation of landing guys in the transfer portal, Eric Musselman now gets the chance to coach the 2nd ranked recruiting class in America.

“It’s going to be really interesting to see what he can do with those kind of guys that he’s really never had before," Cassidy said.

"Maybe he’s had one or two, but he’s never had a roster like he’s going to have next season."

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