Arkansas Razorbacks
2023-24 Result: 16-17 (6-12 SEC)
Projected Starting Lineup
Head Coach: John Calipari (1st season)
Guard: DJ Wagner (SO)
Guard: Johnell Davis (5th year)
Forward: Karter Knox (FR)
Forward: Trevon Brazile (SR)
Center: Jonas Aidoo (SR)
Key Additions
DJ Wagner (Kentucky)
Johnell Davis (Florida Atlantic)
Jonas Aidoo (Tennessee)
Adou Theiro (Kentucky)
Zvonimir Ivisic (Kentucky)
Boogie Fland
Karter Knox
Key Losses
Tramon Mark
Khalif Battle
Davonte Davis
Makhi Mitchell
Arkansas has seen a complete overhaul of their roster, much like Kentucky. There’s one common denominator with both teams: John Calipari. Eric Musselman left for USC, so Calipari jumped ship to Arkansas for a change of scenery after several consecutive disappointing seasons at Kentucky with top level talent. Calipari has always been an excellent recruiter, so he bolstered Arkansas’ roster to put them in a position to be near the top of the SEC. They lost Tramon Mark and Khalif Battle most notably, but turned around and brought in a plethora of talent from Kentucky, high school, and the rest of the transfer portal. DJ Wagner, Adou Theiro and Zvonimir Ivisic all came with Cal from Kentucky. Johnell Davis, big time scorer from Florida Atlantic also came on board for his final year of eligibility. The surprise of the portal was Jonas Aidoo leaving Tennessee to go play for Calipari. On top of that, as always, Cal brought three top 25 recruits with him in Karter Knox, Boogie Fland, and Billy Richmond III. On top of all this, Cal also convinced 6 ‘10 Trevon Brazile to withdraw from the portal. Arkansas is going to look much different and should be able to compete with the top teams in the country.
Defensively, this team should have top tier interior defense and rim protection with Jonas Aidoo and Big Z (Zvonimir Ivisic), Trevon Brazile, and the rim protecting ability of 6 ‘8 Adou Theiro. In the backcourt, D.J. Wagner and Johnell Davis will need to make a committed effort to contain the dribble, but Calipari has probably let them know that they can gamble a bit more than he would typically allow with the size behind them. Arkansas should win nearly every rebounding battle, but the SEC is not for the weak, so they can’t back down from a little bit of physicality as Cal’s much bigger teams have in recent years at Kentucky. Adding the three top 25 recruits will just give this team the luxury of having depth and playing the guys that are making the greatest impact for them. Fland should be a pest on the defensive end and Karter Knox will be able to guard bigger wings. The only reason for this team not being good enough defensively is their effort.
Offensively, Johnell Davis should be the leading scorer, but expect this team to operate more by committee with a bunch of guys averaging high single digits and low double digits, much like at Kentucky last year. With the depth of guys, it is more likely that one night, one guy has 20 and the next, it is another. In terms of style, Arkansas will play a fast pace as Calipari typically likes to. They have the big man depth where they won’t have to slow things down too much because they can just rotate guys in and out. Aidoo and Brazile are likely to start, with the latter being able to stretch the floor and shoot it. The biggest concern for this team is the lack of passing ability, or least historically speaking. They do not have a true point guard that gets downhill and distributes and creates things for his teammates, which could prove to be an issue, especially against teams that pressure them in SEC play. That player is Boogie Fland for them, but it is unlikely that they will be able to rely on him, or even ask, to do that much this season given the plethora of experience on the team. The other problem for this team is the lack of three point shooters. Brazile and Davis are the top two by percentage, but after that, it’s Big Z at 37.5% and a bunch of sub-30% shooters. The worry would be that against teams with strong backcourt defenders, they will struggle because their opponents will be heavy in help on an already weak driving team and dare players not named Davis and Brazile to consistently make jump shots. I know Arkansas wants to play fast, but they shouldn’t be afraid to play through the bigs that they have to limit some of their issues. If some of the freshmen can step up and provide the shooting spark that they need, then that might make most of their issues go away.
Arkansas’ roster has a lot of names, but whether they all fit together remains to be seen. They should be the type of team that hangs their hat on the defensive end, but I’m not sure they will commit themselves to that. If they do, then their ceiling is very high. Expect some improvement offensively from guys like D.J. Wagner and Adou Theiro from where they were last season at Kentucky. This offense should be by committee, so if they commit to that and the defensive end, then Arkansas could be set for a deep run in March in both the conference and NCAA tournaments.