Arkansas basketball makes cut for talented 2024 guard

Arkansas basketball is one of eight schools in the running to land a consensus top-50 recruit in the 2024 class.

Amier Ali, a 6-8, 175-pound wing from IMG Academy (Fla.), announced his final eight schools on Monday and included the Razorbacks. Kentucky, Alabama, Texas, Arizona State, Ohio State, Florida State and Michigan were the other seven schools.

NEWS: 2024 four-star wing Amier Ali has named his top eight schools.

He’s scheduled one official visit with more on the way: https://t.co/UfjQ1UjHXc pic.twitter.com/NypP7jkzzM

— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) April 24, 2023

Arkansas is one of just two teams (Michigan) that hasn’t offered the four-star wing. However, Ali has mentioned that there is mutual interest there.

“I talk to Eric Musselman,” Ali said. “They have people that look like me on their team. They’ll have three draft picks this year, and they play their freshmen and develop them.”

Ali is currently rated a four-star prospect by all major recruiting outlets. As mentioned earlier, he plays for the powerhouse IMG Academy in Florida, which is notorious for producing high-level college prospects. At 6-8 with the playmaking ability of a guard, Ali fits that mold.

“I can play like a guard, the one and two,” Ali said, describing his game. “I’m usually a scorer but I can facilitate. I think passing is my best attribute right now. I’m working on getting better on defense and becoming a big, defensive guard.”

Ali’s game is similar to that of Anthony Black, though there’s still some work to do on the defensive end. Eric Musselman has shown he can develop big guards and have success with them running his offense.

While Ali has yet to receive an offer or officially visit, that could likely change in the near future. The Razorbacks have yet to get a single commitment for the 2024 class and have only offered 15 players.

Musselman’s primary focus right now is on the transfer portal and his roster for next season. However, we’ll soon see some of that focus shift to the 2024 recruiting class and that’s when business will start to pick up.