FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — While it’s legitmately too early for this, it’s worth a glimpse at how the Razorback basketball team will look next season since so many fans appear to be ready to move on from the current product.

Perhaps the most obvious thing when looking at the upcoming state of the roster is head coach John Calipari wasn’t expecting to have as many players coming back as it appears will return.

The players definitely on the way out are Johnell Davis, Jonas Aidoo and Kareem Watkins. The only other possible departure, unless someone is forced to leave, appears to be Boogie Fland who is probably around 50-50 on playing well enough throughout the SEC schedule to keep himself in a draft position that would make him happy.

Beyond that, no one is a threat to head off to the NBA draft unless Adou Theiro decides to test the waters. Before this team came together, Calipari probably thought Karter Knox and DJ Wagner would have a good shot to move on to a pro career at season’s end, along with an outside chance of Trevon Brazile once he started seeing the former Hogs’ potential.

As for those three guaranteed departures, their spots have already been filled. Five-star guards Maleek Thomas and Darius Acuff and high 4-star Isaiah Sealy will be on campus next year.

What that leaves is a glaring need for a big, tough guy who can eat up space in the paint defensively and be aggressive on the offensive end down low. It’s been obvious all season, but is made even more pressing with Aidoo’s departure.

Mouhamed Sylla of Bella Vista Prep in Arizona is expected to announce at 4:30 p.m. today whether he might fill that role. At the moment, the general consensus is the battle between Arkansas, Oregon and Georgia Tech is actually a dog fight between Calipari and the Ducks’ Dana Altman.

However, one lesson learned from this season has to be the need to carry a pair of 6-foot-9 or bigger forwards and a pair of sturdy centers so the team can at least scrimmage properly to prepare for SEC play. Without players to prepare against on a regular basis who reflect the size and skills featured across the league, it’s hard to have big men ready to play once January rolls around.

If for nothing else, the extra large body will be needed because injuries and cold spells just happen. That means there needs to be a center who will do the dirty work picked up in the portal.

The one area where Arkansas should be in good shape is at guard. If Fland decides he wants to come back for one more season to make a run at being a Top 3 draft pick the following season, it makes the position even stronger.

Still, the Hogs will have a more seasoned Wagner who will be able to serve as mentor to Thomas and Acuff, although it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a veteran guard come via the portal to make sure numbers and depth are sufficient. If Theiro sticks around for another year, Arkansas is in good shape at forward also.

The former Kentucky Wildcat has consistently grown physically each season, so it’s possible he is slightly bigger next year, even if that’s just packing a little added muscle. He will be joined by Brazile, Knox and Billy Richmond. Sealy adds to that mix as well.

Those are solid numbers, all of whom would be getting a second year together and under Calipari, but what’s missing is someone with a bit of thickness. There is no tight end body at the position to bang around against tougher teams and scrap for rebounds when things get physical.

Knox is 220, so there is potential there as he finishes developing from a high school boy into a man, but at 6-foot-6, he doesn’t quite have the height sought when trying to fill this particular role. Again, Aidoo can mature a little more and put together a monster season next year if he does, but, if that’s not the case, it’s going to be a key missing ingredient and it’s hard to imagine Calipari bringing on another forward given the limited space and more pressing needs.

So, while it’s a good four months before anyone will know for sure, at the moment it appears the usual excuse of the current team struggling because it was thrown together and so many were new to Calipari and his ways will not be valid next season. There should be plenty of experience and familiarity, which will be something rather new for Arkansas fans give the last several years.

• Calipari’s comfort zone not going Razorbacks any favors

• Three takeaways from Dave Van Horn’s Arkansas season preview

• How do you respond when Razorback teams fail to succeed

• Winless SEC start not what Hogs’ fans envisioned hiring Calipari

• Razorbacks sunk by massive LSU runs, SEC woes linger

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