It been just over a week since his arrival, but Arkansas basketball's new head coach, John Calipari, has worked hard to jump-start the program. He hilariously summed up the current situation when he said, "I met with the team. There is no team," while addressing the median in his first press conference.
Humor is a great coping mechanism when dealing with stressful situations, but the task before Calipari is no laughing matter. When he said, "There is no team," it was literal. Except for walk-on Lawson Blake, no one from last season's roster will be in Fayetteville next year. To make matters worse, both Arkansas high school recruits — Isaiah Eloheim and Jalen Shelly — requested to be released from their national letters of intent.
The good news for Razorback fans is that Calipari is one of the best recruiters in the country. Names like Anthony Davis, Karl Anthony-Towns, Demarcus Cousins, and Malik Monk were all convinced by Coach Calipari to play for him. His team and recruiting class last season at Kentucky were no different.
He's already started to bring his guys to the Hill with the commitment of Zvonimir Ivisic. The 7-foot-2-inch sensation from Croatia only played half the season but exploded on the national scene with an 18-point, four-block performance against No. 13 Alabama in just 20 minutes.
Arkansas will have more Bluegrass talent to pick from in the coming days. Five of Kentucky's six high school signees have asked to be released from their NLIs, and three Kentucky transfers have yet to commit to a team.
On the other hand, just because Coach Calipari convinced these guys to play for him once doesn't mean he'll be able to do it again. The odds are that he'll need to dive into the transfer portal to fill Arkansas' roster. Here's a list of at least one player at every position currently in the portal that Arkansas should seriously target this off-season.
Point Guard
Jeremy Roach- Duke
Season | PTS | FG% | 3FG% | FT% | REB | AST | BLK | STL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2023-24 | 14.0 | 46.8 | 42.9 | 84.4 | 2.5 | 3.3 | 0.1 | 1.1 |
One of the biggest criticisms of Eric Musselman's teams at Arkansas was the lack of a "true point guard." Anthony Black was the closest he ever got to having one, but as a "point guard in a forward's body," he sometimes had to step up in other roles.
Jermey Roach could be that player for Arkansas. With 3.3 assists per game and a 2.3 assist-to-turnover ratio, Roach is an avid and intelligent distributor of the ball. He's willing to make the extra pass, especially in the lane.
And if he can't get the ball to teammates, he has no problem handling the rock himself. Roach took the third-most shots for Duke last season and knocked down 46.8 percent of them. From beyond the arc, he's just as deadly, shooting 42.9 percent.
He's also a fifth-year senior, and Coach Calipari could use that experience with a completely rebuilt team.
Reports have been streaming onto X (Twitter) since his announcement Tuesday that Arkansas is among the leaders to land him. The other two teams are St. John's and Kentucky according to Adam Zagoria of the New York Times.
St. John’s, Kentucky and Arkansas are
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) April 17, 2024
Among the leaders for @DukeMBB transfer Jeremy Roach, source confirms