Four Razorbacks invited to NBA Combine
The NBA Combine sent out its 75 invites, and four Razorbacks were listed among the 75 participants.
Darius Acuff Jr., Trevon Brazile, Billy Richmond III and Meleek Thomas are the four Razorbacks who will participate in the NBA Combine. Acuff is most likely done with college basketball, as he’s a projected top five pick. Brazile is out of eligibility, so the professional ranks are his only option.
Thomas and Richmond, however, have maintained their collegiate eligibility. That means they can get feedback, talk to NBA scouts and executives and work out in front of them all while still having a return to college in their back pockets.
Thomas finished the season as the second-leading scorer for the Razorbacks and averaged 15.4 points per game on shooting splits of 43.5/41.6/84.3%. He scored at least 17 points in each of Arkansas’ NCAA Tournament games. In the SEC Tournament against Ole Miss, he scored 29 and went 4-of-7 from three-point range.
Thomas earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors in the last week of the regular season, when he posted an average of 21.5 points and 4.5 rebounds against Texas and Missouri. In that game against the Tigers, he scored 30 points with five threes. His 48.7% shooting from deep is a school record in league games only. The previous high was 47.4% set by Rotnei Clarke in 2011.
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Richmond started the season coming off the bench but became an invaluable piece of the rotation down the stretch. He posted double-figure scoring performances in four of the last five games of the season. Prior to that, he had a five-game stretch where he scored at least 20 points in each contest.
With Acuff, there’s not much left to say that hasn’t already been said. He’s the best freshman in Arkansas history and is the reigning SEC Player and Freshman of the Year. He averaged 23.5 points and 6.4 assists per game, both of which led the SEC.
Brazile was the longest-tenured Razorback on last year’s team and finished out his five-year college career with four played at Arkansas. He spanned two different head coaches and blossomed under head coach John Calipari. His final season, he averaged 13 points per game and broke his career-high in points twice — against Southern in the season-opener and against Missouri in the regular season finale.
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