Hogs land Florida State big man transfer Malique Ewin

By Kevin McPherson

LITTLE ROCK — John Calipari and Arkansas answered a major positional need by landing talented Florida State big man transfer Malique Ewin, who committed to the Razorbacks privately in the first week of April before making it known publicly on Tuesday.

Ewin (6-11, 230, junior forward / center) chose the Hoop Hogs over high-major interest from multiple schools after recently entering the transfer portal, Kansas, Auburn, Mississippi State, and Kentucky.

A source told Hogville on Friday, April 4, that he “thought (Ewin had) already committed” to the Hogs. He visited Arkansas on Monday and Tuesday (April 14 and 15) before announcing his commitment, just minutes after the announcement that Arkansas had added the commitment of South Carolina transfer big man Nick Pringle.

Ewin — he played sparingly as a freshman at Ole Miss in 2022-23 before landing at FSU for the ’24-25 campaign — started all 30 games he appeared in for the Seminoles, averaging 14.2 points, 7.6 rebounds (including 3.1 offensive boards), and 1.7 assists in per contest while shooting 59.6% field goals and 65.3% free throws.

His per-40-minute production in ’24-25 was 21.7 points, 11.7 rebounds, and 2.6 assists.

He had nine double-doubles (points and rebounds) in ’24-25 — including five consecutive games with double-doubles in January against Miami (20 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 assists in an 8065 road win); Clemson (15 points, 10 rebounds, and 1 block in a 77-57 road loss); Pitt (18 points, 13 rebounds, and 3 blocks in an 82-70 home win); Georgia Tech (17 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 blocks in a 91-78 home win); and California (16 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 block in a 77-68 road loss) — and he scored 20 or more points five times.

In an 85-75 road loss to LSU in early December, Ewin had 17 points and 17 rebounds. He notched a 21-points, 15-rebound, 4-assist effort in an 82-64 home win over Winthrop in mid-December. He had two 20-plus-point scoring outings in FSU’s final five games.

The additions of Ewin and Pringle give Calipari and the Hogs a total of six committed players as they join Karim Rtail (6-9 forward, international prospect from Lebanon who committed to Arkansas in March) to go with a top 5-ranked high school recruiting class in 2025 national Top 5 / 5-star and McDonald’s All American Darius Acuff, Jr. (6-3 guard, Detroit native, IMG Academy, pledged to the Hogs in late July 2024 and signed in November 2024); 2025 national Top 10 / 5-star and McDonald’s All American Meleek Thomas (6-4 guard, Pittsburgh native, Overtime Elite, pledged to and signed with the Hogs in mid-November 2024); and national Top 70 / 4-star Isaiah Sealy (6-7 combo guard / wing, Springdale, pledged to and signed with the Hogs in mid-November 2024).

Ewin is a big-bodied-but-agile big man who can maneuver from the perimeter into the paint with plus dribbling craft and soft finishing touch, although he’s capable of finishing through contact or dropping off a pass to a teammate to beat a double-team. He’s also a volume rebounder — both on the defensive and offensive ends of the court — which was a glaring need at Arkansas last season.