No. 12 Arkansas got the kind of preseason test John Calipari wanted, and the early read on his Razorbacks is pretty clear: they’re big, they can score in bursts, and they still have some physical lessons to learn before Tuesday, Nov. 3, when UA-Pine Bluff comes to Fayetteville.
The exhibition wins over No. 15 Gonzaga and Memphis gave Arkansas a chance to show its ceiling at home, but they also exposed the areas Calipari is still pushing.
For all the length on this roster, he wants more than reach. He wants resistance.
“Again, one-on-one, how [Memphis] got to spots and just raised up and felt comfortable scoring,” Calipari said. “We had seven blocks, and we're long as heck. But if you can't hold your ground and you get on the side of them, it's their advantage.
“And all we've been working on is chest. Make them go through your chest.
You can't turn sideways.But again, we're talking 18-, 19-year-olds. They all turn sideways, and the guy goes and gets in their body.You know, we're working on it.
It's just we're not doing it that well right now... But we're awful big.
We just got to figure out what we're going to do if someone's much stronger than us.”
That’s the rub with this Arkansas team. The Razorbacks have six frontcourt players listed at least 6-foot-11, and several of them carry wingspans longer than 7-foot-4. That kind of size can turn a game defensively, but Calipari knows length alone won’t solve every post battle.
Last season showed that problem in plain view. Bigger, stronger teams gave Arkansas trouble in the paint, including Arizona in the Sweet 16 and Florida during the regular season. The Razorbacks pushed nearly everyone to the wire in their losses, but the opponents that could bring real brute strength were the ones that separated themselves.
That’s why the development work with Calipari and Kenny Payne matters so much. If Arkansas can turn its frame into force, it could become a nightmare matchup in the NCAA Tournament.
On the other end, Billy Richmond III has already given Calipari reason to trust him. The 5-star freshman who arrived in Fayetteville with raw offensive skill and a relentless motor has evolved into something more dangerous: a player who can make winning plays and now looks like a true go-to option.
Richmond’s growth has been steady. He flashed early with 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting in an upset of No. 2 seed St. John’s two seasons ago, then took another step as a sophomore by averaging eight points while shooting 55% from the field, along with four rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block per game through January.
By the end of last season, he had become a major reason Arkansas surged to an SEC Tournament championship and a second straight NCAA Tournament appearance. Over the final 16 games, he averaged 15 points, five rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block while hitting 57% of his shots.
That touch carried right into exhibition play, where Richmond put up 17 points, four rebounds, four assists, 1.5 blocks and one steal per game. Calipari clearly likes what he has in him.
“You're a guy like [Richmond], and you just play basketball. If you have a [good] shot, you take it,” Calipari said. “But you have other guys that are trying to judge their game and their emotions and their spirit on, 'Am I making shots?'”
“So what does that mean? You'll be all year, you'll be up, you're going to be down.
You'll be up, you'll be down, you'll be up. How about Jordan [Smith] goes 0-for-9 (against Gonzaga), but he's positive in the plus-minus today.
Jeremiah [Wilkinson] missed every shot at halftime. I said, 'Look, you don't have to make them all.
You just can't miss them all. Like, you missed every one.'”
Calipari has been down this road before with shooters whose confidence rises and falls with the scoreboard. He pointed to Darius Acuff from last season as an example of how missed shots can spill over into other parts of the game. Smith and Wilkinson, though, kept competing on defense, which gave Calipari a reason to stay with them.
“But I thought he fought, which meant I could leave him in the game,” Calipari said of Wilkinson. “I thought he came up with balls and deflections and scrambled and did good stuff.
So you leave him in the game, let him go. And he did make one.
The team went crazy for him. We do have a good bunch of guys.
“And when one guy goes 0-for-7, 0-for-8, your three-point percentage is not going to be that good. But if he didn't go 1-for-9 or whatever, we end up shooting 46%.
But he missed a ton. But he did the other stuff, and that's all you can ask.”
Arkansas also found an answer in the transfer portal with Bowser, who came in from Furman as a known interior threat. Calipari and his staff looked at other big men too, but weren’t interested in meeting the prices being asked by the market and agents.
Bowser’s early trip to the Bahamas for the Baha Mar Summer League didn’t help quiet concerns, but his play against Memphis and Gonzaga changed the tone quickly. The 6-foot-11, 235-pound big man averaged eight points, nine rebounds, two assists and two blocks per game in exhibition play, while shooting 7-of-9 from the floor and finishing a combined plus-29 in 44 minutes.
“He's getting better, but the battle he has isn't with anybody else but himself. He's got to believe,” Calipari said.
“I had a kid last year that it didn't matter what anybody said or did or what he did on the court, he believed he was as good as anybody. Who was that?
Meleek Thomas.
“I told him, 'You've got to prepare for every game like you're going to play 30 minutes.' And the next game, he went in and got 16.
And it's only one reason. He believes.
And if you're working, that's your job. Demonstrated performance is how you get in there, where you're building your own confidence.
And Cooper's doing that.”
In Other News...
Arkansas Gets A Big Chance With Rising QB Target This Weekend
A familiar recruiting visitor is back in Fayetteville this weekend, and this one carries real long-term intrigue for Arkansas. KJ Henry, the 4-star quarterback from Norman North in Oklahoma, is expected to watch the Razorbacks take on Missouri after already making an unofficial visit to an Arkansas game earlier in the process. He sits 16th among quarterbacks in the 2028 class on 247Sports, and Arkansas is one of several programs that have already extended scholarship offers.
For the Razorbacks, the chance to host Henry again comes at a useful moment, especially with his profile continuing to rise. The offseason brought noticeable gains in weight, physicality and running ability, traits that have helped push him further onto the radar as one of the more interesting young quarterbacks in the country. A return trip like this gives Arkansas another chance to make itself part of the conversation before the race gets even more crowded. [Read more 🡒]
Penny Hardaway Just Framed Arkansas As A Much Bigger Threat
Arkansas left Memphis with a 93-81 win and a reminder that the Razorbacks may be viewed differently inside the sport than they are in the rankings. Five Arkansas players finished in double figures, a balanced showing that fit the kind of depth and energy John Calipari has been trying to build early in the season. Even in a road atmosphere, the Razorbacks looked like a group capable of making noise beyond a standard nonconference result.
Penny Hardaway added to that buzz afterward by calling Arkansas a top-five team despite its No. 12 ranking, pointing to the Razorbacks youth as part of the reason they have not climbed higher yet. Calipari, meanwhile, returned the compliment by speaking highly of Memphis and saying the Tigers should contend for their league title. For Arkansas, it is the sort of win that travels well, and the kind of postgame praise that suggests the conversation around this team may be changing fast. [Read more 🡒]
Arkansas Is Waiting On A Recruiting Test Calipari May Not Win
The recruiting race for DeMarcus Henry is already shaping up to be the kind of heavyweight battle Arkansas expected when John Calipari arrived in Fayetteville. The highly ranked 2027 guard has drawn attention from the usual powers, with Arkansas and North Carolina both in the mix, and the Tar Heels have put real pressure on the pursuit by making Henry a major priority early.
North Carolinas pitch has reportedly gone beyond the standard welcome tour, which gives Arkansas a sense of how steep the climb may be here. The Razorbacks are still pushing ahead on multiple fronts, too, with Beckham Black trending toward an early signing and CJ Rossers recruitment still unresolved, so even if Henry becomes a tougher pull, the broader class picture is far from settled. [Read more 🡒]