By Otis Kirk

FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas coach Eric Musselman has added Wichita (Kan.) Sunrise Christian Academy five-star point guard Layden Blocker to the signing class of 2023.

Blocker, 6-2, 180, formerly from Little Rock Christian, played his junior season at Sunrise Chistian Academy and will be there as a senior. He signed with the Razorbacks on Saturday evening at Bordino's in Fayetteville. Musselman was pleased to add another five-star recruit to his team.

“We are excited to officially add Layden to our Razorback family,” Musselman said. “He is a player who has continued to improve his game and has tremendous upside. Layden is a tenacious defender and versatile floor general. He comes from a well-coached program and has experience competing against some of the best young players in the country.”

Blocker took an official visit to Arkansas in June and committed to the Razorbacks later that month. He is projected by NBADraft.net to be the 20th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. As a junior and despite playing with two SI All-Americans, Blocker averaged nine points, 1.3 steals, 3.7 rebounds and posted a 3-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio for Sunrise Christian Academy which held down the top spot in the SB Live/SI Power 25 for most of the season.

Musselman will learn on Tuesday the status of two more key recruits he's wanting in this class. They are both from Denver (Colo.) Accelerated School. The two are five-star Baye Fall, 6-10, 205, and four-star Assane Diop, 6-10, 190. Fall has Arkansas, Seton Hall, Auburn and Rutgers among his finalists. Diop has Arkansas, Colorado and Seton Hall on his list of finalists.

The reports early had Fall and Diop going to the same school, but rumors persist Diop could choose Colorado and stay closer to home.