LITTLE ROCK — Washington freshman-transfer Keyon Menifield, Jr. committed to Arkansas on Tuesday, becoming the first of what will likely be multiple portal pledges for the Razorbacks in the coming days and weeks.
Menifield (6-1 guard, native of Flint, Mich.) averaged 10.0 points, 3.1 assists, 2.9 rebounds, 1.1 steals, and 1.7 turnovers in 28.6 minutes per game while shooting 41.0% field goals, including 33.0% from 3, and 69.8% free throws in 2022-23.
He was named to the ’22-23 Pac-12 All Freshman team. His 1.8:1.0 assist-to-turnover ratio was tops among Pac-12 freshmen.
Menifield — he started 21 of the 32 games he played in — had Arkansas among his top six schools that he announced on Sunday, April 2.
He chose the Hoop Hogs over Alabama, Tennessee, Louisville, Ohio State, and a return to Washington.
Menifield will have three years of remaining playing eligibility that begins immediately in ’23-24.
He had five games of scoring 20 or more points — 27 in a 72-71 home win in overtime over Oregon on Feb. 15; 26 in a home win over Utah Tech in November; and 21 on three separate occasions against then-No. 6 Arizona, USC, and North Florida.
Menifield scored in double figures 15 times, including 12 times once Pac-12 play began. He had nine games of five or more assists and he notched 10 games of two or more steals.
With Arkansas’ primary handlers in guards Nick Smith, Jr., Devo Davis, and Ricky Council IV all declaring for the upcoming 2023 NBA Draft, and with freshman guard Anthony Black expected to announce the same in the coming days, Menifield becomes the second backcourt piece to Head Hog Eric Musselman’s 2023 recruiting class as he joins 2023 composite national No. 23 / 5-star high school prospect Layden Blocker (6-3 guard, Sunrise Christian Academy, Little Rock native), who signed with the Hogs in November.
Watching Menifield as a freshman at the high-major level, what stood out was his plus-length at 6-1 combined with bursts of quick-twitch shiftiness as a playmaker for himself and others.
