John Calipari and Arkansas basketball made a huge splash in the 2026 class. Shooting guard JJ Andrew picked the Hogs Thursday afternoon, giving the Hogs their first commit of the class.
JJ Andrews commits to Arkansas
Andrews is the top-ranked player in Arkansas, according to 247Sports. Hailing from Little Rock Christian Academy, the 6-foot-6, 220-pound guard is "physically imposing in a multitude of ways," as 247Sports' director of scouting Adam Finkelstein wrote. The recruiting outlet composite ranking rates Andrews as a .09851 4-star prospect, ranking him as the No. 37 player in the country and No. 15 at his position.
His recruitment was dicey toward the end. Reports that Dennis Gates and Missouri began a last-minute push to bring him to the Show Me state. So, either the information was wrong, or Arkansas made a counteroffer Andrews couldn't refuse. LSU was also in the mix for the talented 4-star.
Here's a little more of what Finkelstein had to say about Andrews:
"[Andrews] plays with the attacking style to magnify those assets. He was a bit of an early bloomer, who was bigger and stronger than most of his peers at an early age, and consequently able to thrive with a bully ball type style. More recently, we’ve seen him add more skill to his attack...
"Defensively, he has all the physical characteristics to be impactful and versatile, particularly switching up the line-up, but needs to fully commit to that on a more consistent basis, especially when defending quicker players on the perimeter."
Not only is Andrews a highly-rated prospect, but he's a Razorback legacy player, too. JJ Andrews is the son of former Arkansas offensive lineman Shawn Andrews. The Razorback legend was a two-time All-SEC selection, two-time All-American, a Freshman All-American, and twice recipient of the Jacobs Blocking Trophy. After three seasons with Arkansas (2001-2003), Andrews went No. 16 overall in the 2024 NFL to the Philadelphia Eagles, then played with the Giants before retiring in 2011.