oh look, Arkansas international player cleared

Arkansas star freshman Miikka Muurinen, one of the key players of the Razorbacks' No. 1-ranked recruiting class, has been cleared to play this season.

In a video posted to X on Thursday, coach John Calipari announced the news.

"You probably heard Miikka has been cleared," Calipari said. "What a meeting I was able to have with him to say, 'You've been cleared to play.' Hugged each other, tears in his eyes. When his teammates found out, you saw how excited they are.

"But let me say this to everybody. He's 19. At the end of this year, he's going to be 19. He is not Superman. He's got a long way to go. He's a good player. We got a lot of good players, but he's young. And now we add him to this group, a 7-footer who can play out on the floor [and] inside. He doesn't like to go inside, but he can play in there and is going to even make us better."


Finnish 7-footer elevates Arkansas to No. 1 class

Muurinen, a Finland native, spent time at multiple high schools in the United States before opting to sign with Partizan Belgrade in Serbia. The NCAA's stricter regulations on eligibility for international prospects has left dozens of former overseas pros in limbo for the upcoming college basketball season, and Muurinen's clearance delay fell into that category.