Pinion transfers to Arkansas State
Former University of Arkansas guard Joseph Pinion announced Monday he is transferring to Arkansas State on X, formerly Twitter, following two seasons with the Razorbacks. The Morrilton native posted a graphic and text that read “red wolves, let’s rock.”
Pinion was a 4-star recruit coming out of high school and committed to Arkansas over Baylor, Creighton, DePaul, Kansas, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, TCU and others. A McDonald’s All-American nominee, Pinion averaged averaged 23.4 points and 9 rebounds per game during his senior year at Morrilton.
He averaged 2.4 points per game in each of his seasons with the Razorbacks with 26 appearances in 2022-23 and 19 appearances, including one start, in 2023-24.
Pinion announced his intention to enter the NCAA transfer portal on March 15, the day after the Razorbacks’ season-ending 80-66 loss to South Carolina at the SEC Tournament. He was the first Arkansas player to enter the portal.
He scored a season-high 12 points against Florida on Jan. 13 and 10 against Ole Miss on Jan. 24 in 21 minutes of action each, but scored no more than three points and played no more than eight minutes in a game the rest of the season.
Pinion scored his career-high 13 points on Jan. 4, 2023, against Missouri and matched that against Ole Miss on Jan. 21, 2023. He set two Razorback records his freshman season: most free throw attempts in a season without a miss (7) and most minutes played in a season without a turnover (148).
The Razorbacks currently have six open scholarship spots for next season. Massachusetts transfer Josh Cohen committed on Friday to Arkansas, which also has reportedly had a recruiting Zoom call with George Mason’s Keyshawn Hall. Arkansas has reportedly contacted more than 70 players in the transfer portal.
He will join a Red Wolves squad that finished 20-17 this season, narrowly missed the NCAA Tournament and reached the semifinals of the College Basketball Invitational in Coach Bryan Hodgson’s first season. Arkansas State fell to James Madison in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament title game and beat Bethune-Cookman and Montana in the CBI before falling to top-seed High Point.
He joins another former Razorback, Derrian Ford, at Arkansas State. Ford averaged 10.4 points per game this season.