Arkansas basketball will host one of the top-rated guards in the 2024 recruiting class on an official visit, HawgSports has learned. Composite five-star guard and McDonald’s All-American Boogie Fland is set to visit the Razorbacks and head coach John Calipari in Fayetteville on Wednesday
Fland is currently rated as a four-star and the No. 26 overall player in the 2024 cycle as well as the No. 2 overall combo guard. According to the industry-generated Composite Rankings, Fland is a five-star prospect and the No. 19 overall player in his class.
He originally committed to Calipari at Kentucky back on Oct. 20, 2023 and signed with the school on Nov. 8. He chose Kentucky over Alabama and Indiana. Five days after Calipari was hired at Arkansas, Fland requested a release from his letter of intent and decommitted from the Wildcats.
The 6-2, 170-pound White Plains, N.Y. native averaged 18.1 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.7 assists and two steals as a junior at Archbishop Stepinac. Playing for PSA Cardinals on the Nike EYBL circuit, Fland averaged 15 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.7 steals while shooting 33.3% from 3-point land. He had four games over 20 points on the EYBL circuit, including a pair of 30-point games.
If Arkansas were to land Fland, it would be the second player from the 2024 recruiting class to follow Calipari to Fayetteville from Kentucky. He’d join four-star forward Karter Knox, who committed to the Razorbacks on Monday, shortly after visiting the school.
Here’s a closer look at Fland from 247Sports national recruiting analyst Adam Finkelstein:
Fland is a skilled guard whose biggest asset is his ability to shoot the basketball. Like few other players in high school basketball, he has an ability to heat up and start making tough shots from long-range. However, his willingness to settle for those tough shots, can impact his efficiency. The 30% he shot from behind the three-point line in EYBL came in direct correlation to his shot selection, since he’s undoubtedly a better shooter than those numbers indicate.
While Fland is young for his grade, he remains undersized with a slighter natural build, but deceptively long arms. His lack of strength can sometimes limit his ability to play through contact in the lane, but he has good range on his floater and is adept at getting to the free-throw line.
Fland has spent most of his high school career playing off the ball, but has developed into a reliable secondary ball-handler who has become increasingly capable of initiating offense with the ball in his hands. He has pace with the ball, both in the open floor and coming off ball-screens, a good left hand, and has definitely gotten tighter with his handle over the years.
Defensively, Fland has the long arms, quick hands, and feet to be effective. He defends with a playmaking mindset that leads to a high steal rate (1.7/game), and has untapped potential as someone who can pick-up and pressure the ball away from the basket.
Overall, Fland is a skilled shooter, who bases his game off his ability to make tough shots right now. As he continues to build up his body and learns to impact the game in other ways, he’s only going to become more efficient.