John Calipari plans deeper rotation for Arkansas basketball

It was Arkansas basketball’s time in the spotlight at SEC Media Days.

John Calipari, Billy Richmond III and Cooper Bowser represented the Razorbacks at the league’s kickoff event in Birmingham, Alabama on Wednesday, Oct. 14. The trio fielded questions from the main interview room and made appearances on SEC Network as hype builds for Calipari’s third season in Fayetteville. Arkansas was picked to finish third by the league’s media.

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Here are four key takeaways from the Hall of Fame coach’s time at the microphone, starting with a couple of hints on rotation and playing style.

Hogs will go deeper down the bench, but not by much

Calipari said multiple times he expects to use nine or 10 players in his rotation. This would be an improvement on each of his first two seasons in Fayetteville when Arkansas typically went with an eight-man core, that sometimes got smaller with injuries.

Jordan Smith Jr., Jeremiah Wilkinson, Richmond, Miikka Muurinen and Bowser are the projected starters. Abdou Toure and JJ Andrews are potential lottery picks who could easily crack the opening lineup later this year. Caleb Ourigou and Davion Thompson are key reclassification recruits who should grow into more minutes as the season progresses.

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That is already a nine-man rotation, leaving the likes of Maper Maker, Ilia Frolov and Paulo Semedo to compete for the 10th spot, if Calipari goes that deep.

Semedo is likely on the outside looking in, and Calipari noticeably did not mention the sophomore at SEC Media Days. Maker is the favorite for playing time over Frolov thanks to his positional versatility in the frontcourt.

Added depth leads to new style

Calipari asked one of his trademark rhetorical questions to the media in attendance.

What should he do if he’s trying to play a nine or 10-man rotation?

“Probably press, you would say, then play really fast so they can only play three or four minutes at a time,” Calipari said.

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Arkansas hardly pressed in the past two seasons. D.J….

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Publish date : 2026-10-14 23:39:00

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