Musselman Hoping Brazile's Roller Coaster Season Levels Out

He's brash. He's unapologetic and impossible to miss with his red hair. The curious case is Trevon Brazile and his relation to the 2024 Arkansas Basketball team. 

It's important to note Brazile is coming off a season-ending ACL injury he sustained after just nine games in 2022, but has insisted that he is fully back to health. 

The season could not have started better for Brazile with four of the first five games with double figures. He also had a career-high 17 rebounds against Stanford to bail the Hogs out of a sticky situation in double-overtime. Brazile came up with a season-high 19 points in Arkansas' marquee win over Duke. He is also the only player on the team that has remained immune from the constant musical chairs that coach Eric Musselman has employed, starting all 17 games. 

With all the highs have come some serious lows for the first time on the court in a Razorback uniform (outside the injury) Brazile has had two games against North Carolina and Oklahoma where he failed to register a single point. Brazile's rebounding has also been inconsistent. However, Brazile leads the team with 6.7 rebounds a game, the team is tied for 10th with its next opponent South Carolina in rebounding in the SEC.

Musselman knows that the team is now counting on Brazile as the superior interior post player and as a leader, both things he can do. 

"He needs to be a guy that beats people off the dribble because he’s got a good (and) quick first step," Musselman said at the start of SEC play.  "He’s got a long first step. People underestimate how long that first step of TB’s can be. We tried to put him in some positions out on the floor where he had the ability to be able to jab-step and rip and go."

The Razorbacks take on South Carolina inside Bud Walton Arena 12 p.m. Jan. 20. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network and fuboTV.