To say John Calipari has hit the ground running in his first two months as Arkansas men’s basketball coach would be putting it mildly.
Calipari, who inherited a roster with all of one player (Lawson Blake, a walk-on) back in April, has used his recruiting skills both on the high school trail and in the transfer portal.
In the portal, Calipari landed five commitments — three of which followed him from Kentucky in Zvonimir Ivisic, Adou Thiero, and most recently D.J. Wagner Jr.
That’s not counting former Tennessee big man Jonas Aidoo and the biggest get of all: star combo guard Johnell Davis, considered by many as the best player to enter the transfer portal after his rise at Florida Atlantic.
Those names pushed Arkansas to the top of 247Sports’ transfer portal team rankings in May, and the Razorbacks maintained their grip on that spot in updated rankings for June, released Monday.
Per 247Sports’ Brad Crawford:
“Calipari picked Kentucky’s roster clean of three players he wanted — DJ Wagner, Zvonimir Ivisic and Adou Thiero — and also signed 6-11 Tennessee big Jonas Aidoo along with FAU star Johnell Davis. That gives the first-year Arkansas coach the nation’s No. 1 group in the portal this cycle. Davis is a top-five transfer overall and recently withdrew from the NBA Draft after averaging career highs with 18.2 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game last season.”
Arkansas edged Indiana and Kansas for the top spot in 247Sports’ transfer portal team rankings.
The Razorbacks’ 2024-25 roster currently stands at nine players. In addition to the five transfers mentioned above, Arkansas has incoming freshmen Boogie Fland, Karter Knox and Billy Richmond, plus the recent return of forward Trevon Brazile. Brazile announced he would play for Arkansas after declaring for the NBA Draft on April 8 following his redshirt sophomore season.
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