Arkansas basketball have been the talk of college sports over the last few days. After the Razorbacks lost longtime head coach Eric Musselman to the USC Trojans, they conducted a search for his replacement that felt like the equivalent of a roller coaster. They eventually found their man, however, and snatched John Calipari away from the Kentucky Wildcats and brought him to Fayetteville. It was a major coaching domino that is still reverberating across the country.
Calipari has his work cut out for him. There is not a single scholarship player on the Razorbacks' roster at the moment. That's right—Arkansas basketball doesn't have a single player from last year's team currently committed to next year's squad.
One of those players from the previous season is Tramon Mark, who transferred over to Fayetteville last season from the University of Houston. He brought a dynamic scoring punch to begin 2023-24, but couldn't carry that torch consistently in conference play.
Still, Mark can really score and holds up defensively. He could help a number of programs, including Houston, the Virginia Cavaliers and the Maryland Terrapins.
Houston Cougars
If both sides are amicable, Tramon Mark and the Cougars should get back together. Head coach Kelvin Sampson has rebuilt Houston into a perennial national contender the way they were in the early 1980s.
However, the Cougars are going to need to find more offensive juice in the backcourt if they want to be one of the best teams in the country next season. All-American guard Jamal Shead is going pro and declaring for the 2024 NBA Draft.
Houston still has dynamic guards in LJ Cryer, Emmanuel Sharp, Damian Dunn and Terrance Arcenaux coming back, but none of those players shot better than 42% from the field this season. Cryer was the Cougars' leading scorer at 15.5 points per game.
Mark, on the other hand, shot 48% from the field and averaged 16.2 points an outing. His true shooting (58.8%) and effective field goal (53.1%) percentages both exceeded Cryer's marks as well (55.1% and 52.6%).
The state of Arkansas basketball's roster is as fluid as humanly possible, so Mark could find his way back there. However, if he is on his way out of Fayetteville, the best spot for him just might be back in Houston. The sides should definitely have conversations about a possible reunion.
Virginia Cavaliers
Can Virginia find someone who can actually score the ball? Tramon Mark tends to play an iso-heavy style, which would work in direct contrast to the motion offense that head coach Tony Bennett runs. But it wouldn't hurt Bennett to add some juice and variety to his offense.
Virginia was once again one of the worst teams in the country at scoring the ball this season. Their offense ranked 200th overall, according to KenPom, while only two players—Reece Beekman and Isaac McNeely—averaged double-digit points for the Cavaliers.
Virginia went nearly 13 minutes of game time without scoring a single point in their First Four loss against Colorado State. It took them nearly 52 minutes of real-time for them to score. Seriously, that's a thing that happened.
Stay of the Day:
Virginia went 52 minutes of real world time without scoring a basket. @UVAMensHoops is gone. pic.twitter.com/a8XGogggVL
— Rougarou Locks (@RougarouLocks) March 20, 2024
Bennett and Virginia haven't won a single NCAA Tournament game since bringing home the National Championship in 2019. Obviously, any program and fanbase will take any pain that comes their way if they have a title to go with it.
But it doesn't have to be this way. The Cavaliers have to bring more offense into their program's identity. Mark can do that.
Maryland Terrapins
There's a similar need for offense with another program in the DMV. Maryland wasn't much better than Virginia at putting the ball in the bucket this season, ranking 155th in offensive efficiency, per KenPom. Only Rutgers was worse in that department in the Big Ten.
Maryland relied a lot on Jahmir Young to do the heavy lifting offensively. He averaged over 20 points per game, but didn't do it very efficiently.
His true shooting percentage was an acceptable54.6% because of how well and frequently he got to the free throw line (90% on just under seven attempts per game), but his effective field goal percentage was a ghastly 46%. Young also had a usage rate of 31%, per Basketball Reference.
Young just didn't have much help, and to make matters worse for the Terrapins, he's out of eligibility. The Terrapins really needs to find a creator to replace him. Mark may be their best option.
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