Arkansas basketball hires its first assistant coach

John Calipari is going back to his roots at Kentucky, pulling in Kenny Payne as his first assistant hire. Payne will be the new assistant head coach.

The duo coached together at Kentucky between the 2009-10 and 2019-20 seasons before Payne left for the head coaches position at Louisville.

In those 11 years, Kentucky made the NCAA Tournament every year except in 2013 and 2020, when the tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Wildcats had eight Elite Eight appearances, four final fours, a national champion runner-up, and a Nation Championship in 2012.

Payne has produced a ton of NBA superstars, with names like Anthony Davis and Karl Anthony-Town under his belt.

Maybe the most intriguing thing about the hire is that the national basketball media's focus continues to be on the Razorbacks, going on three weeks now. Some have gone as far as spreading rumors about paying Kentucky players double to come to Arkansas. But to be fair, in a time where NIL is the name of the game, it doesn't hurt to advertise.

Arkansas still has only one scholarship player for next season, so there will be no time to sit and reminisce. They'll be busy on the recruiting trail, building the 2024-25 Razorback squad.