SPORTS
By Robby Edwards | Photos courtesy of Razorback Communications
Talented Newcomers Join Veteran Hogs After Sweet 16 Run
Head coach John Calipari
John Calipari had an up-and-down season his first year as Arkansas men’s basketball head coach but closed the year on a definite high, taking the Razorbacks to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
In the age of the transfer portal, the offseason is also full of highs and lows as players leave and enter programs, but Calipari also completed that season on a high by holding onto six returnees, including two starters, bringing in two transfers expected to make a major impact and welcoming six freshman newcomers. That freshman class is rated fourth best in the country by ESPN.
Three starters and two key reserves are gone from last year’s squad, which had four- and six-game winning streaks early and started 0-5 in the Southeastern Conference. They lost three of four games over another stretch, battled injuries and won five of six late. Then, the squad beat Kansas and St. John’s in the NCAA Tournament before falling to Texas Tech in the Sweet 16, finishing 22-14.
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“You have downs and ups, and things happen — things out of your control,” Calipari said. “We had good guys. Yes, they were good players, but they were coachable, they were listening, talking to one another. You could tell they like each other. All of a sudden by the end of the year, we’re better than 95% of the teams in the country playing six guys. That was the most rewarding year I can remember in a long time because they stayed true. We just kept tweaking and changing to try to make us good.”
Karter Knox
The top three scorers, forward Adou Thiero (15.1 points per game, 5.8 rebounds per game), guard Boogie Fland (13.5 ppg) and guard Johnell Davis (12.0 ppg) are gone, but there’s plenty for Calipari to build around.
Guard D.J. Wagner and forward Karter Knox are the returning starters. Other key returnees are 6-5 forward Billy Richmond III and 6-10 forward Trevon Brazile.
The two portal additions are 6-10 forward Malique Ewin from Florida State and 6-10 forward Nick Pringle from South Carolina.
Wagner, who played for Calipari at Kentucky two years ago, was the only Razorback to start all 36 games and one of three to play in each contest. He averaged 11.2 points, 2.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game, and was second in the SEC in minutes played with 34.32 per game.
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Fland missed an extended stretch with an injury, and Wagner took over the point guard spot. In those final 18 games, he averaged 12.2 points, 4.6 assists and 34.9 minutes, and made 50 of 60 free throws. In the first 18 games, he averaged 10.1 points and 2.7 assists.
Knox decided to return after entering his name for the NBA Draft. Once Wagner moved to point guard, Knox became a fixture in the lineup. He averaged 8.3 points and 3.3 rebounds for the year. That included 6.3 points and 2.8 rebounds in the first 18 games but improved to 10.4 points and 3.8 rebounds while shooting 52.3% from the floor (57-109) over the last 18.
Richmond came off the bench in every game. He averaged 5.7 points and 3 rebounds for the year, but over the last nine games averaged 9.4 points and 2.4 assists.
In the win over St. John’s, he led the team in scoring and rebounding with 16 and nine, respectively, matching his career highs in each category.
Though technically not a starter, Brazile played in 34 games with 13 starts, including the last nine games of the year, helping the Hogs go 6-3. He averaged 6.8 points and 5.4 rebounds for the year, leading the team in total rebounds (184), and finishing second in blocked shots (38) and three-point shooting percentage (.364).
Over the final nine games as a starter, he averaged 11.3 points and 9.1 rebounds with four double-doubles.
“D.J. is steady-Eddy,” Calipari said during the summer. “He comes every day; he is way better, and he was good last year. You can see (Knox and Richmond) are more confident, and there’s less anxiety. Those two now have an idea of what we’re trying to do. Brazile has played so well. He’s not even the same guy. His skills are better, and mentally, he’s in a good space. He knows that I believe in him, and we believe in him.”
Ewin played at Florida State last year, South Plains College in Texas the year before and at Ole Miss the prior season. In 44 Division I games, he has career averages of 10.2 points and 5.6 rebounds.
At Florida State, he started 30 games, led the Atlantic Coast Conference and was 17th nationally in field goal percentage at 59.6%. He also led the team with 7.6 rebounds per game and was second on the squad with 14.2 points. He had 19 points and nine rebounds in a win over No. 22 Louisville and had a career-high 26 points in a win over SMU.
Ewin was ranked among the top 20 centers in the nation as a senior in high school and was the No. 1 junior college player in the country in 2023-24 by 247Sports.
Pringle played at South Carolina last year after spending the two previous seasons at Alabama. Last year at South Carolina, he was third on the team with 9.5 points and second with 6.3 rebounds per game. He was fourth in the nation in free throw percentage (.822, 97-148), scored in double figures 14 times, and had 18 points and nine rebounds against Arkansas.
In 2023-24, he averaged 6.8 points and 5.1 rebounds, helping Alabama reach its first Final Four.
Freshman newcomers include guards Darius Acuff Jr., Meleek Thomas, Isaiah Sealy and Amere Brown; forwards Paulo Semedo and Karim Rtail; and center Elmir Džafić.
Trevon Brazile
“There were games last year, all we had to do is get a basket, and we didn’t have those kinds of guys,” Calipari said. “This team has a bunch of guys who just go get one, to stem the tide. We have guys who want to be that guy, and a couple of them are returning players.”
Acuff, from Detroit, was rated the No. 5 overall prospect in the country by 247Sports, and the No. 1 point guard by both 247Sports and ESPN.
A McDonald’s All-American, he was named the Allen Iverson National Player of the Year in high school, and MVP of the Iverson Classic All-American Game, finishing with 32 points and 11 assists.
Acuff played at IMG Academy in Florida as a junior and senior. As a sophomore at Cass Technical High School in Michigan, he averaged 21.4 points and 5.7 assists. As a junior at IMG, he averaged 20.4 points and 5.5 assists.
Thomas is a McDonald’s All-American, the No. 7 overall prospect and No. 2 shooting guard in the nation, according to Rivals. He’s listed 10th on NBADraftRoom.com and 18th on NBADraft.net for the 2026 NBA Mock Draft.
From Pittsburgh, he is a two-time Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Boys Basketball Player of the Year and a two-time first-team all-state selection. As a junior at Lincoln Park High School, he averaged 23.5 points, 10.8 rebounds and 5.8 assists.
As a senior, Thomas competed for Overtime Elite, an eight-team league in Atlanta with its own academy for high school students, averaging 26.5 points per game.
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Sealy, a 6-7 wing, was the No. 1 prospect in Arkansas last year, playing at Springdale High School. Rated the No. 68 overall prospect and the No. 18 small forward in the country by ESPN, he averaged 17.6 points, 5.1 rebounds and 5.2 assists a game, helping SHS go 29-4 and finish second in the state. As a junior, he averaged 28.2 points, 8.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists.
DJ Wagner
Rtail is a 6-7 forward from Beirut, Lebanon, and was a member of the Lebanese FIBA junior national teams. He played in the 2022 Under-18 Asia Championship, the 2023 Under-19 World Cup and with the Lebanese FIBA senior team at the 2024 Asia Cup Qualifier. In 12 games with the junior national team, he averaged 15.7 points and 5.5 rebounds.
In 35 games last year as the starting power forward with Neptunas-Akvaservis in the National Basketball League in Lithuania, he averaged 8.3 points and 4.5 rebounds.
Semedo, a 7-1 forward from Luanda, Angola, was rated the No. 50 prospect in the U.S. and the sixth-best center. He played at West Oaks Academy in Orlando, Florida. He previously played for Zentro San Jorge Madrid in the 2024 Spain Under-18 Club Championship and the 2022 Spain Under-16 Club Championship leagues.
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Džafić, a 7-0 center from Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina, played two years for KK Bosna Sarajevo, the top professional league in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 2023, at 17, he played for Buducnost Bijeljina in the First League of the Republika Srpska, averaging 3.7 points and 2.8 rebounds in 25 games. He represented Bosnia and Herzegovina at the 2023 Under-18 European Championship Division B and averaged 13.1 points and 10.0 rebounds in eight games.
Billy Richmond III
Brown was rated the No. 50 point guard in the nation and No. 8 overall out of Woodland Hills High School in Pittsburgh.
Other returnees from last year are guard Ayden Kelley and forward Jaden Karuletwa.