John Calipari, Arkansas land top ranked point guard in massive recruiting win

The Arkansas Razorbacks have undergone major changes this offseason beginning with the arrival of John Calipari as head coach. Calipari has dipped into the transfer portal for some of his Kentucky players as well as others, to help fill out the roster. But Arkansas landed a major recruit on Friday in Darius Acuff as per Joe Tipton of On3 Sports.

Darius Acuff is Arkansas' first commitment from the class of 2025. He's considered the top point guard in his class. Acuff committed to Kentucky over offers from multiple big name schools including Michigan and Kansas who made the cut-off for his top choices.

Acuff will finish up his senior year in high school this upcoming season at IMG Academy. This summer, he was a member of Team USA's U18 team at the 2024 AmeriCup. He helped lead the team to a gold medal finish as they defeated Argentina in the final game. Acuff also played in the Nike EYBL circuit over the summer and averaged 24 points per game.

Acuff is a talented scorer who can shoot off the dribble or get to the basket. He's a solid ball-handler and a good playmaker as well.

Arkansas basketball revamped with transfers, top commits

While Darius Acuff won't hit the court for Arkansas until the 2025-26 season, the team should still have a formidable roster for this upcoming season. When John Calipari took over as Arkansas head coach, he wasted no time hitting the transfer portal to build what was virtually non-existent roster.

Several of Calipari's former Kentucky players entered the transfer portal and followed him to Arkansas including DJ Wagner, Zvonimir Ivisic and Adou Thiero. Wagner and Ivisic were freshman last season while Thiero was a sophomore.

Arkansas also landed the commitments of several other top players in the transfer portal such as Florida Atlantic guard Johnell Davis and Texas center Jonas Aidoo. But a good portion of the Arkansas roster will come from incoming freshmen who were originally committed to Kentucky when Calipari was at the helm.

Those incoming freshmen consist of Karter Knox, Boogie Fland and Billy Richmond III. Arkansas also got a key decision from Trevon Brazile who decided to remain with the Razorbacks after initially entering the transfer portal.

Last season under former head coach Eric Musselman, Arkansas failed to qualify for the NCAA Tournament for the first time in three seasons. They finished with an overall record of 16-17 and only 6-12 in SEC play. Musselman left Arkansas in the offseason to become the new head coach at USC following Andy Enfield's departure to SMU.