Trevon Brazile has announced that he will return to Arkansas and play under Coach Calipari.
FAYETTEVILLE — Trevon Brazile Rejoins Arkansas Basketball Under New Coach John Calipari. Trevon Brazile has chosen to return to the University of Arkansas to play for new Razorback Coach John Calipari. After declaring for the NBA Draft on April 8 following his redshirt sophomore season, Brazile re-committed to Arkansas, as announced on the UA basketball social media accounts on Tuesday.
The 6-10 forward, who has two seasons of college eligibility left, is now the ninth player in Calipari’s recruiting class. Brazile is the sole returning scholarship player from last season’s 16-17 Razorbacks team. Eric Musselman, the previous coach, left Arkansas after five seasons to take the job at Southern Cal.
Brazile, 21, participated in the NBA Scouting Combine in Chicago but withdrew from the draft on May 27, two days before the deadline for college players with remaining eligibility. According to On3.com, after averaging 4.0 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 1.0 assist in two scrimmage games at the combine, NBA team executives advised him to return to college for another season. Brazile had entered the transfer portal on May 1 to keep his college options open while considering the draft.
Brazile was a preseason first-team All-SEC selection last fall and was initially projected as a first-round NBA Draft pick. However, he did not perform as expected and missed games due to knee soreness, resulting in a projection as a second-round pick after the season.
As a redshirt sophomore, Brazile averaged 8.6 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.2 blocked shots, and 25.6 minutes in 26 games, starting 23 of them. His standout performances early in the season included scoring 14 points and grabbing 17 rebounds in Arkansas’ double-overtime 77-74 win over Stanford in the Battle 4 Atlantis, and posting 19 points and 11 rebounds in the 80-75 victory over Duke in the ACC/SEC Challenge at Walton Arena.
Knee soreness sidelined Brazile for seven consecutive SEC games in February, but he returned for the final seven games, delivering strong performances. He scored 12 points, grabbed 6 rebounds, and blocked 2 shots in the Razorbacks’ 92-88 overtime loss to Alabama, and had 13 points, 12 rebounds, and 4 blocked shots in their 90-85 overtime win over Vanderbilt in the SEC Tournament.
Brazile missed Arkansas’ first game against Kentucky last season due to knee soreness, a game where the Wildcats, coached by Calipari for the previous 15 seasons, won 63-57 at Walton Arena. In the rematch at Rupp Arena, where Kentucky won 111-102, Brazile fouled out after 15 minutes but scored 8 points, with 2 rebounds and 1 blocked shot, hitting 4 of 5 shots.
Brazile shot 48.8% from the field (79 of 162), 35.3% on three-pointers (24 of 68), and 69.5% on free throws (41 of 59).
Hailing from Springfield, Mo., Brazile transferred to Arkansas from Missouri, where he averaged 6.3 points and 5.0 rebounds as a freshman. He served as the Razorbacks’ sixth man in his sophomore year, averaging 11.8 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 1.2 blocked shots before a season-ending torn right ACL against North Carolina-Greensboro in the ninth game.
