What Trevon Brazile's season-ending ACL injury means for Arkansas basketball

FAYETTEVILLE — No. 8 Arkansas basketball has had just one game this season in which all of its players were fully healthy. With sophomore forward Trevon Brazile out for the season with a torn ACL, that won't happen again.

The Razorbacks are now without one of their top players. Before Tuesday, Brazile was averaging 13.3 points per game and leading the team in blocks per game (1.1) and rebounds per game (6.5). He was coming off the bench, but averaged about 29 minutes per game before the injury in this week's win vs. UNC Greensboro.

Coach Eric Musselman said Thursday that Brazile was "hanging in there" following the prognosis. The Missouri transfer will have surgery later this month.

MORE:Arkansas basketball's Trevon Brazile out for season with torn ACL

RECAP:Arkansas basketball overcomes sluggish offense, survives UNC Greensboro

Musselman had been excited about Brazile's versatility. He could shoot from beyond the arc, play above the rim and guard multiple positions. It's unlikely that just one player can replace Brazile.

"When we built the roster, he was a big part of how we wanted to play," Musselman said. "It’s obviously a huge blow to us, but these things happen in athletics. We’ve got to figure out how we move forward. ... Somebody’s going to get a new opportunity, or a couple guys are, and then we just have to hope that guys play well."

The good news for Arkansas is that this is a deep roster. Musselman has called it the deepest bench he's had in college. Musselman said the Razorbacks will have to replace Brazile by committee. Big men Makhi Mitchell, Makhel Mitchell, Jalen Graham, Kamani Johnson and Jordan Walsh will have to combine their strengths and minutes to make up for the versatility of Brazile.

Arkansas' first game without Brazile will be against Oklahoma on Saturday (noon, ESPN2), and the Razorbacks will have to adapt quickly without a player Musselman described as a "top five player in the league."

Given that it's early in the season, Musselman was optimistic about his staff's ability to adjust. He pointed out that when Arkansas played Oklahoma at this time last season, the Razorbacks were still shuffling their personnel. Arkansas hadn't yet defined roles for forward Trey Wade and guard Stanley Umude, for example, and both became impact players in the Razorbacks' postseason run.

"Who we are Saturday, it’s a new ballclub," Musselman said. "There’s going to be an adjustment, there’s no doubt about it. Other guys are going to get an opportunity. ... I think there’s 25 or 26 minutes that are now available that probably were not available up until that injury."

Christina Long covers the Arkansas Razorbacks for the Southwest Times Record and USA TODAY Network. You can follow her on Twitter @christinalong00 or email her at clong@swtimes.com.

This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: How Arkansas basketball will adapt without Trevon Brazile