photo credit: Craven Whitlow / Instagram/Miikka Muurinen
Despite constant speculation about adding someone else from the transfer portal, John Calipari appears pretty content with how his 2025-26 Arkansas basketball roster is currently constructed.
With Karter Knox announcing his return last week, plus news of a surprise walk-on type signee, the Razorbacks are sitting at 12 players for next season. They have eight sure-fire rotational pieces, two borderline contributors and two reserves.
That doesn’t leave a ton of room for error, especially considering what Arkansas went through last season with injuries, but Calipari doesn’t mind the short bench.
If he so desires, though, he has three open roster spots that he could fill before reaching the 15-man limit that’s set to go into effect this summer. It’s unclear whether the Hall of Fame coach would look for a contributor or walk-on this late in the process, but one familiar name seems to be picking up steam.
Class of 2026 five-star prospect Miikka Muurinen took an official visit to Arkansas last September and has long been rumored as a candidate to reclassify up to the 2025 class. The Finnish standout shot them down in the past, but by not playing this summer, those rumors are still simmering.
International scout Arman Jovic recently said it’s still a possibility and even mentioned the Hogs as being in the mix for Murrinen in that scenario. It’s also been a hot topic amongst Arkansas basketball insiders like Curtis Wilkerson of Inside Arkansas and Kevin McPherson of Hogville.
While it’s not known if he’d maintain his five-star rating as a member of the 2025 class, the 6-foot-10 power forward would be a massive late addition if it came to fruition.
“If Arkansas were to add Miikka, I think Cal would’ve officially sold me on this team as a Final Four contender,” Wilkerson said. “I don’t think that he’s an automatic star right out of the gates, especially as a reclass, but man, he’s an immense, immense talent.”
Push Back on Muurinen-to-Arkansas
There is at least enough smoke surrounding the Miikka Muurinen rumors that it also caught the attention of national college basketball analyst Aaron Torres.
In a video he posted to his YouTube channel Saturday, Torres said he wouldn’t be surprised if Miikka Muurinen heads to college a year early because of his age.
Born in 2007, Muurinen is already 18, which means he’ll turn 19 in 2026 — making him eligible for next year’s NBA Draft if he was also a year removed from high school. That has become a trendy move for high-level recruits with legitimate professional potential, as it gets them to the big money of the NBA a year earlier.
Where Torres rains on Arkansas’ parade, though, is with his take on Murrinen’s fit with the Razorbacks.
No one is questioning whether or not Calipari would take him. Now at Compass Prep in Arizona, Muurinen is the No. 8 overall recruit in the 2026 class, according to the 247Sports Composite. He has a long list of suitors that includes Utah, Michigan and Texas Tech — three other schools he’s visited. The usual suspects like Duke, Kentucky and North Carolina have also extended offers.
What’s up for debate is the inverse — Does Arkansas make sense for him? Torres was hesitant, at best, to say the Razorbacks are a perfect landing spot.
“Is that really a spot where you’re going to thrive and shine?” Torres pondered. “It’s not because he’s a bad player, it’s not because Arkansas is bad. It’s actually a good thing. They have a lot of players in that role.”
Even though Adou Thiero opted to remain in the NBA Draft, the Razorbacks are returning Trevon Brazile as a stretch 4, plus they’ve added Malique Ewen and Nick Pringle out of the portal. International signee Karim Rtail is someone who could soak up some minutes, as well.
The two transfers are more traditional big men, but Torres still grouped them in with Brazile and Rtail as guys Muurinen would be fighting for playing time in the front court.
In his opinion, it’s a completely different situation than that of Jeremiah Fears at Oklahoma last season. The heralded point guard announced he was reclassifying and committed to the Sooners on July 20 last year before breaking out as a freshman.
The Joliet, Ill., native averaged 17.1 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists, asserting himself as a one-and-done lottery pick this summer. That illustrates the No. 1 reason those kinds of players reclassify, as he’ll be making millions of dollars and starting the clock on getting an even bigger second contract when he would have otherwise been a freshman in college.
On the surface, Arkansas appears to have a pretty crowded front court and, as Torres sees it, one in which the Finnish star would almost certainly be limited to coming off the bench.
Eye Test Indicates Otherwise
The biggest story involving Arkansas sports right now is the baseball team that just swept through the Fayetteville Regional to advance to the super regionals for the first time in three years.
Inside Arkansas’ Curtis Wilkerson was among the thousands of fans who made it out to Baum-Walker Stadium, but being a true basketball sicko, he turned the event into an opportunity to create some excellent content for The Pod at the Palace, his daily podcast.
At Friday’s game, he spotted a few of the Arkansas basketball newcomers for the first time in person. Based on the eye test, Wilkerson came away thinking several players were bigger than what was previously reported or listed on the official roster.
The lone exception was Karim Rtail. Upon his commitment to the Razorbacks, the Lebanese forward was widely said to be 6-foot-9. While the UA has him at 6-foot-8 on its website, Wilkerson said he’s probably closer to 6-foot-7.
He and fellow Inside Arkansas podcaster Andrew Ellis observed that Rtail looks “mean” and someone “you don’t want to mess with” — good qualities to have if you want to play in the paint in the SEC. But the physical league demands more than attitude.
“He could probably use another 10 pounds, at least, in the weight room to play in the SEC, not quite as filled out as I thought that he would be there,” Wilkerson said. “I would say that he looks like more of a wing than a power forward to me at this stage.”
As many have speculated, it sounds like Rtail is a developmental piece who needs some seasoning before Arkansas depends on him for meaningful minutes.
Perhaps it’s a coincidence that the players have been on campus for only a couple of weeks, but the timing of these Miikka Muurinen rumors resurfacing could indicate the coaches have realized this likelihood and now have a renewed urgency in getting the talented recruit to campus a year early.
Then again, this isn’t Calipari’s first rodeo. The second-year Arkansas coach probably had a pretty good idea of Rtail’s potential role as a freshman long before he arrived in Fayetteville and Muurinen just happens to be another talented option.
Regardless, it’s clear the Razorbacks could use another big man. The key — as Torres said — will be convincing the young star he can still shine in their front court, even if it’s off the bench.
It helps that Calipari can simply reach into his past for an example of a highly touted international power forward who didn’t have a huge role as a freshman, but still became a one-and-done first-round pick.
That exact scenario unfolded 10 years ago at Kentucky, albeit not with a player who reclassified. Skal Labissiere, a 6-foot-11 prospect from Haiti, was the No. 1 overall recruit in the 2015 class, but ended up starting only half of the games in his lone season with the Wildcats. He averaged 6.6 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in just 15.8 minutes per game.
Despite the lack of production, the Phoenix Suns still took Labissiere with the 28th overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft.
Muurinen would probably like to get selected higher than that, but that at least proves it’s possible even if he’s fourth in the front court pecking order.
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