Tramon Mark becomes first domino to fall of Arkansas' NBA Draft entrants

Arkansas basketball has been operating in a bit of limbo with four players testing the NBA Draft waters while maintaining their college eligibility. Tuesday morning, transfer commitment Tramon Mark became the first to announce he would be withdrawing from the draft to spend the 2023-24 season in Fayetteville.

While the news has long been an expected development, it serves as the first of four dominoes set to fall one way or the other before the May 31 deadline for student-athletes to pull out of the draft and maintain their eligibility for the upcoming college basketball season. Arkansas is still waiting on final word from junior guard Davonte Davis, freshman forward Jordan Walsh and Louisville transfer El Ellis.

Although Mark did not receive an invite to the NBA Draft Combine or G League Camp, he had been going through the draft process all spring and had at least one known workout with the Atlanta Hawks. He is expected to be a major piece for the Hogs next season.

In the final 247Sports Transfer Portal Rankings, Mark came in as a four-star prospect with a 94 player rating and slotted as the No. 22 overall player out of more than 1,700 who have entered the transfer portal.

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Mark was a critical contributor to an impressive run of success at Houston under head coach Kelvin Sampson the past few seasons, and averaged 10.1 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game as a lockdown defender for a No. 1 seed last season. He exploded for 26 points and 9 rebounds against Auburn in the NCAA Tournament. Here's what 247Sports national analyst had to say about the former Houston Cougar:

"Tramon Mark has been a valuable piece to Houston's run over the last three years and now he is off to find a bigger role at Arkansas, which has fashioned itself as the portal king the last few cycles.

"Mark is a talented and versatile wing who has shown ability to play some on the ball coming out of high school. Mark impacts the game in just about every way from defense to rebounding, slashing and creating but his biggest weakness lies in his long-ball. If Mark takes his jumper to the next level, he will find himself cracking future draft boards."

The 6-6, 195-pound two-way guard out of Dickinson (Texas) announced his commitment to Arkansas on Easter Sunday after a surprise visit to Fayetteville. He chose the Hogs over a final four that included Kansas State, Texas A&M and Florida.

Arkansas fans now have just over a week to wait on the final announcements of Ellis, Davis and Walsh. Of the trio, only Walsh attended the combine and is a regular on mock draft boards.

The Razorbacks have the scholarship room to accommodate all three players, but also remain active in the transfer portal and heavy in pursuit of Ron Holland, the nation's top 2023 prospect who recently de-committed from Texas.