Contracts expected to be finalized for Arkansas to host Little Rock, MD-Eastern Shore as part of 4-team MTE that includes Illinois game in Kansas City

By Kevin McPherson

LITTLE ROCK — Barring an unforeseen last-minute setback, contracts are expected to be finalized for Arkansas to host games against in-state Division 1 Little Rock and D1 Maryland-Eastern Shore at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville (both contests are likely to be played in November) as part of a four-team MTE (multi-team event) that includes the Razorbacks’ previously announced neutral-site tilt against Illinois on Thursday, Nov. 28, in Kansas City, Mo., according to multiple sources.

Each team will play three games as part of the event, with the Hoop Hogs and Illini each hosting the other two teams in addition to their head-to-head matchup on Thanksgiving Day in K.C. that reports have indicated will be televised nationally by CBS. The Trojans will host UMES with road games against both Arkansas and Illinois, meaning UMES would have three road games against the field.

While the Arkansas-Illinois game is iron-clad set, until the contracts are formally and completely signed by all parties there remains a remote possibility that one or both of Little Rock and UMES could be replaced with another program(s), although one source told Hogville the four-team field is “highly unlikely” to change at this point and would require a “significant unforeseen snag to pop up at the last minute.”

All time, Arkansas is 1-5 against Illinois; 1-0 against Little Rock (a 93-78 home win in December 2021, and the Hogs also won a home exhibition game against the Trojans in October 2019); and 1-0 against UMES (a 100-40 home win in January 2001).

Illinois finished the 2023-24 campaign second in the Big Ten (29-9 overall and 14-6 in league play) before winning the conference postseason tournament, finished the season ranked 6th nationally, and as a 3-seed went 3-1 in the NCAA Tournament that ended with a loss to eventual national champion UConn in the Elite Eight. The Illini will return only one starter, junior Ty Rodgers, but have added several highly regarded players from the transfer portal, high school ranks, and internationally, the latter of which includes 7-2 big man Tomislav Ivisic, who is the twin brother of Arkansas sophomore big man Zvonimir Ivisic.

Little Rock, the Ohio Valley Conference regular-season champion in ’23-24 with a 21-13 overall record and 14-4 league mark, will return former Razorbacks guard and ’23-24 first-team All OVC performer KK Robinson. The Trojans have added Creighton/Memphis transfer Johnathan Lawson (6-7 wing) and LSU graduate transfer Mwani Wilkinson (6-5 wing) to their roster, and they hope former Razorbacks big man and ’23-24 All OVC performer Makhel Mitchell is granted an additional season of playing eligibility as he has petitioned the NCAA for a waiver to clear the way.

The pending contest against Little Rock would give Arkansas at least two games against in-state D1 programs in ’24-25 (includes a matchup against Central Arkansas in North Little Rock), and it would mark the fifth regular-season game against an in-state D1 program spanning the last five seasons — UCA three times (’20-21, ’21-22, and ’24-25) and Little Rock twice (’21-22 and ’24-25).

UMES finished second-to-last-place (9-20 overall, 4-10 in league play) last season in in the eight-team Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC).

Should Little Rock and UMES be added to the Arkansas schedule as expected, here are the Hoop Hogs’ known seven non-conference opponents …

-Maryland-Eastern Shore, BWA in Fayetteville (likely a November game date)
-Little Rock, BWA in Fayetteville (likely a November game date)
-Illinois, Mobile T Center in Kansas City (Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, Nov. 28)
-at Miami, second annual ACC/SEC Challenge (Dec. 3)
-Michigan, Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York City (Dec. 10 or 11)
-Central Arkansas, Simmons Bank Arena in North Little Rock (likely a mid-to-late December game date)
-Oakland, BWA in Fayetteville (Dec. 30)