Arkansas guard Boogie Fland is set to begin a visit with the defending national champions on Monday, just one week after he withdrew from the 2025 NBA Draft. Fland is reportedly headed to Gainesville to visit with the Florida Gators beginning on Monday and going through Tuesday, as first reported by Graham Hall of Swamp247 on Sunday.
Fland was briefly at the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago last week, but he ended up withdrawing from both the combine and 2025 NBA Draft entirely before going through drills and scrimmages. The 6-2, 175-pound rising sophomore guard is currently rated as the No. 8 overall player in the transfer portal by 247Sports and originally entered the NBA Draft on April 4 after one season in Fayetteville.
Despite entering the NBA Draft and being primarily focused on that process for the last month, Fland decided to enter his name into the transfer portal on April 22 – the final day before it closed. While the move gave Fland maximum flexibility should he return to school, it also signaled that a potential return to Arkansas was in doubt.
The day following Fland's decision to withdraw from the NBA Draft, John Calipari was at the 'ONE Razorback Roadshow' event in Little Rock and was asked about his former five-star McDonald's All-American guard. Calipari didn't completely shut the door on Fland coming back, but he also pretty short in his answer.
"Yeah, we always said I'll have his back. Whatever he needs from us and me," Calipari said. "I love coaching him, so we'll see how it plays out."
The potential of a second year at Arkansas isn't completely off the table for Fland, according to those familiar with the situation. However, the Razorbacks will have a somewhat crowded backcourt next season with five-star freshmen Darius Acuff and Meleek Thomas and veteran DJ Wagner. Considering some of the other opportunities available for Fland to be in more of a featured role elsewhere, it certainly makes for a difficult situation.
Regardless of where the talented guard ends up next season, he certainly made an impact in his short time playing for the Hogs. Fland appeared in the first 18 games for the Hogs leading them to a 10-2 record in non-conference play and recorded four games of 20+ points.
He played in Arkansas' first five SEC games where the Hogs went 0-5 before suffering a right thumb injury in a 71-63 loss to Florida on January 11. Fland attempted to play through the injury against Missouri and LSU, but underwent what was believed to be season-ending surgery on January 22 to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament (UCL).
The Hogs were without Fland for 15 games, which included the SEC Tournament. On the evening of Selection Sunday, it was announced that Fland would return for the NCAA Tournament, a tough decision for the freshman as he didn't want to break up the momentum Arkansas had after winning five of seven to finish the season.
Fland appeared in all of Arkansas' NCAA Tournament games, recording 24 minutes against in their Round of 64 win over Kansas, 20 minutes in their Round of 32 win over St. John's, and nine minutes in their Sweet Sixteen loss to Texas Tech.
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