Year 1 of the John Calipari era at Arkansas could and should be labeled a success. The program reached the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament after a dreadful start to SEC play, and found itself in a position to reach the Elite Eight before squandering a double-digit lead in a loss to Texas Tech.
Arkansas’ top-three leading scorers (Adou Thiero, Boogie Fland and Johnell Davis) have moved on from the program. Thiero was a second-round pick by the Los Angeles Lakers, Fland transferred to Florida and Davis graduated after a lengthy college career. The good news for the Razorbacks is that there will be more continuity on this roster than last year after Calipari scrambled to build a roster from the ground up after leaving Kentucky after 15 years with the program.
The biggest name returning to the program is star guard DJ Wagner, who began his career at Kentucky with Calipari. Karter Knox and Billy Richmond lll — two former Kentucky pledges — are returning to the program after productive seasons primarily coming off the bench.
Dribble Handoff: Duke-Kansas, St. John’s-Kentucky, Houston-Auburn among college hoops’ top 2025-26 showdowns
David Cobb
With college basketball’s player movement all but done, it’s time to start breaking down the rosters of the sport’s top programs. For this installment, we’re taking a look at Arkansas and trying to decipher what its lineup could look like when the season begins.
Arkansas was an overtime away from the inaugural season under John Calipari to be an absolute success. So what…
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