John Calipari has new-look roster while trying to get No. 12 Arkansas over Sweet 16 hump

Arkansas (28-9, 13-5 SEC)

The 12th-ranked Razorbacks go into their third season with coach John Calipari with a new-look roster after making the NCAA Sweet 16 each of his first two seasons. There are nine freshmen and two transfers. The only significant returner is 6-foot-7 junior wing Billy Richmond.

Advertisement

Players to watch

Richmond started 19 of the Hogs’ 37 games last season while averaging 11.2 points and 4.3 rebounds a game, and was one of the SEC’s top defensive players. … Junior guard Jeremiah Wilkinson, a transfer from Georgia, will serve as a steadying force in the backcourt. He was ninth in the SEC in scoring last year at 19.4 points for the Bulldogs. … Freshman guard Jordan Smith Jr. should score plenty, too, as a consensus top-five recruit in the country and the latest in Calipari’s notorious one-and-done style of recruiting elite high-school talent.

Departures and arrivals

Smith and Wilkinson are the two new arrivals expected to make the most immediate impact, but the Razorbacks are loaded with newcomers. … At 6-foot-10, Miikka Muurinen is more of a perimeter player than an inside force, and also was a top-10 recruit coveted by just about every school in the country. … Freshman wings JJ Andrews and Abou Toure and guard Davion Thompson should be key rotational pieces, if not starters. … Cooper Bowser, a 6-foot-11 senior transfer from Furman, will play plenty of minutes as Arkansas’ only experienced interior player. He averaged 13.8 points and 5.9 rebounds last season.

Advertisement

Top games

Calipari has a challenging schedule for his young team even before getting into Southeastern Conference play. The Razorbacks, who open Tuesday night by hosting Arkansas-Pine Bluff, will play back-to-back games against No. 6 Michigan State on Thanksgiving and North Carolina on Dec. 1. There are also games against Indiana and No. 5 Arizona before SEC play begins. In the SEC, Arkansas plays both No. 8 Tennessee (Jan. 16) and No. 7 Texas (Jan. 23) on the road, but does…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/john-calipari-look-roster-while-160750959.html

Author :

Publish date : 2026-10-29 16:07:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.