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WEEKEND BRUNCH: Why Arkansas looks like a top-10 team in “disguise”

When John Calipari was introduced as Arkansas’ head coach in early April, he didn’t mince words when he talked about the state of the Razorbacks’ roster.

“I went to meet with the team,” Calipari said. “There is no team.”

Two months can make a big difference.

Calipari will never get the same attention at Arkansas that he received while he was at Kentucky, but the roster that he’s assembled entering his first season in Fayetteville is comparable to some of the teams that he had while he was in Lexington.

That is not hyperbole.

How good are the Razorbacks?

We won’t know until the season starts in November, but there’s no reason why Arkansas — who’s currently ranked NINTH in the ROTHSTEIN 45 — shouldn’t be in the conversation with Auburn, Texas A&M, Tennessee, and Florida as the SEC’s second-best team behind Alabama.

This looks like a top-10 team on paper.

The biggest difference between the makeup of the Razorbacks’ roster and some of the recent teams that Calipari had in Lexington?

Veteran experience.

Five transfers — D.J. Wagner (Kentucky), Johnell Davis (Florida Atlantic), Adou Thiero (Kentucky), Jonas Aidoo (Tennessee), and Zvonimir Ivisic (Kentucky) — arrive in Fayetteville with tangible collegiate experience while bouncy big man Trevon Brazile (8.6 points, 5.9 rebounds) — who played at Arkansas under Eric Musselman — is entering his fourth season. All six of those players will push for a place in the Razorbacks’ starting lineup, which means for the first time in a very long time, Calipari will not have to rely on multiple freshmen out of the gate. Arkansas does though, have three five-star prospects in its recruiting class in Boogie Fland, Billy Richmond, and Karter Knox.

Expect a substantial jump for the 6-4 Wagner (9.9 points), who was universally viewed as the best freshman guard in the 2023 class prior to last season, but was overshadowed by the brilliance of two of Kentucky’s other freshmen — Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham — who are both projected to be top-10 picks in this months’s NBA Draft. Wagner averaged 12.9 points and 4.1 assists last season in games where he played 30 minutes or more.

Arkansas also has the potential to be a tremendous offensive rebounding team and a physical defensive team, which was the backbone of Calipari’s success at Memphis and his early years at Kentucky, when he won a national title in 2012. Davis and Thiero are both physical defenders on the wings while the 6-11 Aidoo (11.4 points, 7.4 rebounds) averaged 1.8 blocks last season at Tennessee. Aidoo and Davis were both a part of recent success in the NCAA Tournament as Aidoo was the defensive anchor last season on a team that reached the Elite Eight while the 6-4 Davis (18.2 points, 6.4 rebounds) was the best player on Florida Atlantic when the Owls reached the Final Four in 2023.

Calipari will be the first person to tell you that the past few seasons at Kentucky were a major disappointment in terms of advancing in the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats could have went to the Final Four in 2022, but lost to St. Peter’s and were also picked off by Oakland in the first round of March Madness this past season. Sandwiched in between those defeats was a loss to Kansas State in the Round of 32 in 2023.

None of that though, has anything to do with the current roster at Arkansas.

Here’s the thing that everyone needs to remember: How would this roster be perceived if it had Kentucky across its chest instead of Arkansas?

Like it’s a top-10 team entering the 2024-25 season.

That’s what the Razorbacks look like, only maybe in disguise.

On The Side

  • 54 of UConn’s 68 wins over the past two seasons have been by double figures.
  • Virginia announced this week that Tony Bennett has received a contract extension through the 2029-30 season, with a one-year rollover if he’s still the Cavaliers’ head coach on April 30, 2036, which would extend the contract through 2031.
  • Steve Lutz said on this week’s edition of the College Hoops Today Podcast that no contracts are done, but Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are expected to play in the annual “BEDLAM” game in mid-December at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City.
  • Matchups were released earlier this week for next season’s ACC/SEC Challenge.
  • SMU’s Andy Enfield will be next week’s guest on the College Hoops Today Podcast.

Leftovers