By Kevin McPherson
LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Razorbacks’ coaching staff apparently did not want their bus ride down from Fayetteville to Little Rock for a weekend game in central Arkansas to be idle time, so they reached out via phone calls to two known class of 2024 5-star Hog targets to extend scholarship offers on Friday.
Head Hog Eric Musselman personally made the offers to juniors Isaiah Elohim (6-5 guard, Sierra Canyon in Calif., composite national No. 12 / 5-star prospect) and Liam McNeeley (6-7 small forward / wing, Montverde Academy in Fla., composite national No. 20 / 5-star prospect).
“I literally just got the call 5 minutes ago so I’m still a little in shock,” Elohim told Hogville.net just shortly after 12:30 p.m. CT on Friday. “Yeah, he (Musselman) was the one that called.”
Elohim — he had planned to take an unofficial visit to Arkansas in October, but that fell through — reieterated his interest in visiting Arkansas.
“Yeah, 100 percent,” he said.
McNeeley, a native of Austin, Texas, who has played his sping/summer grassroots basketball with Dallas-based Drive Nation on the Nike EYBL circuit, also expressed excitement to hear from Musselman with a Hog offer.
“Coach Muss called me and told me that I have an offer from Arkansas,” McNeeley said. “We have been communicating for a while so I am excited to be offered by them.”
McNeeley is hitting over 50% from 3 on the season at Montverde as a volume shooter from distance. He recently took his first official visit to Indiana. He’s a versatile playmaking wing with size who in addition to his elite three-point shooting has mid-range scoring craft with good handles to drive and finish ord facilitate for others.
Elohim has been a star at Sierra Canyon. He finished with 17 points, 9 rebounds, and 1 block to lead his team to a 62-51 win over Christ the King (NY) on Monday.
A Kingston, New York, native who moved to the west coast in California when he was 8-years-old, Elohim talked about his Hoop Hogs recruitment during an interview with Hogville in September.
“Like every other day,” Elohim answered when asked about the frequency of his contact with Arkansas’ coaching staff, adding that he talks most often with “Coach (Eric) Musselman, Coach (Ronnie) Brewer.”
Elohim told Hogville that Arkansas coaches had reached out to him on June 15, the first day that Division 1 coaches could initiate direct contact with class of 2024 recruits.
Elohim also previously expressed to Hogville his desire to earn a scholarship offer from Arkansas while sharing the list of schools pursuing him with the most zeal.
“The schools recruiting me the hardest are Arkansas, Baylor (offer), UCLA (offer), Gonzaga, Michigan, Kentucky (offer), Kansas (offer), and Texas (offer).”
Elohim said Arkansas coaches have detailed what their program can provide him as well as what they see in him that fits their system and culture.
“(Hog coaches talk) about the team culture, the community, how I can help the team and how they can prepare me for the NBA and help continue to develop my game,” he said. “They like my ability to score and create for others, and my versatility on defense to guard multiple positions.”
Elohim starred in the spring and summer grassroots season playing for Paul George Elite on the Nike EYBL circuit. He also attended the prestigious Pangos All American camp in early June in Las Vegas, averaging 13.0 points on 56.1% field goal shooting, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.5 assists. He also participated in the U17 Team USA mini camp.
Elohim averaged 19.3 points (56.0% field goal shooting), 5.4 rebounds, and 2.5 assists in 2020-21 as a high school freshman at Northridge (Calif.) Heritage Christian. He moved on to Sierra Canyon for his sophomore season in ’21-22.
Elohim is a strong, sturdy, physical, athletic slasher with craft in his mid-range shot creation game plus three-point range in catch-and-shoot opportunities.
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Arkansas coaches offer highly regarded 2025 west coast prospect: Multiple sources on Thursday confirmed with Hogville that an Arkansas scholarship offer had been extended to 2025 Tounde Yessoufou (6-6 wing, St. Joseph High School, Santa Maria, Calif.). Yessoufou is ranked national No. 15 (4-star) by 247Sports.com and national No. 23 (4-star) by ESPN. His offer list now includes the Hogs, Arizona, Arizona State, and UCLA among others.
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Pair of in-state stars to attend UA-v-Bradley in North Little Rock: According to sources, 2024 Hog offer K. Annor Boateng (6-6 wing, Little Rock Central, Arkansas Hawks, Rivals national No. 13 / 5-star prospect) and 2025 Hog interest Jai-Chaunn Hayes (6-6 combo guard, White Hall) both plan to be in attendance for the Hoop Hogs’ annual central Arkansas game at Simmons Bank Arena, which this year is against mid-major Bradley (3 p.m. CT, Saturday, no TV or live-stream).
With Arkansas assistant coach Gus Argenal courtside watching on Thursday, Boateng recorded a double-double — 19 points and 10 rebounds — to lead Central to a 69-67 win over Moravian Prep (N.C.) in the Hoophall South Classic in Bentonville. Boateng and the Tigers have another game in the event on Friday before returning home to Little Rock.
Hayes, a standout at Arkansas Razorbacks basketball camp just a few months ago, already has four 40-point games for White Hall this season. He holds offers from Ole Miss and Arkansas-Pine Bluff with Arkansas and other Division 1 programs showing interest.
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Junior 5-star recruit catches Arkansas’ win over Oklahoma in Tulsa last Saturday: 2024 Hog offer David Castillo (6-2 PG, Bartlesville, Okla., national No. 8 / 5-star prospect) on Sunday told Hogville that he attended No. 9 Arkansas’ 88-78 win over Oklahoma on Saturday at the BOK Center in Tulsa. Castillo has taken multiple unoffcial visits to Arkansas in the past year, and he picked up his Arkansas offer inside Reynolds Razorbacks Stadium while attending the Football Hogs’ win over Texas in September 2021.
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Recent 5-star Arkansas signee off to a productive start to December: 2023 Rivals national No. 11 / 5-star Hog signee Baye Fall (6-11 forward / center, Accelerated Schools in Denver, Colo.) averaged 16.3 points, 8.5 rebounds, 1.0 blockk, & 1.0 assist in a recent 4-game stretch (Dec. 3-10).
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Hogs out to see two 2024 top-shelf prospects: Sources confirmed with Hogville that Arkansas’ coaching staff had a presence in North Carolina on Tuesday to see juniors Isaiah Evans (6-6 wing, Morth Mecklenburg, N.C., 247Sports national No. 16 / 5-star prospect) and Trentyn Flowers (6-8 small forward / wing, Combine Academy in N.C., 247Sports national No. 21 / 5-star prospect). Both players have held Hog offers for months, and Arkansas coaches have been out to see both compete for months.
