FAYETTEVILLE — John Calipari began his Wednesday news conference with a simple line of questioning.
“So, what did you see?” Calipari asked. “Does anybody know any basketball here?”
The University of Arkansas men’s coach, entering his second season at the helm after a 15-year reign at Kentucky, fielded answers.
Pushing the pace?
“Yeah, not bad.”
Working in the two-man game, getting to the basket, the sheer number of healthy players — rising freshman Karim Rtail was the only player who did not participate as he deals with back issues.
The Razorbacks held practice open to reporters. They played at pace and worked on getting to the rim.
The returning core of D.J. Wagner, Trevon Brazile, Billy Richmond III and Karter Knox have adapted to their new teammates.
Arkansas brought in a strong freshman class of Rtail, 5-star prospects Darius Acuff Jr. and Meleek Thomas, and 4-star Springdale native Isaiah Sealy. The Razorbacks added transfers Nick Pringle (South Carolina) and Malique Ewin (Florida State) to the frontcourt.
June commits Elmir Dzafic and Paulo Semedo have not signed and were not at practice. Jaden Karuletwa, who briefly appeared in the rotation when injury issues plagued the roster, also returns.
Mixing and twisting different combinations throughout the workout, Arkansas worked with speed.
It’s a luxury Calipari did not have entering his first year in the new surroundings, hampered by injuries that forced players to face graduate assistants during training.
“I knew we’d be behind,” Calipari said of his first season, which ended with a run to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. “That was the most rewarding year I can remember in a long time because they stayed true and they stayed strong and we just kept tweaking and changing to try to make us good. Right now, you can tell I’m more comfortable.”
There were signs of that better-sofa life in the Razorbacks’ practice facility.
Wagner and Acuff regularly sparred in one-on-ones. Knox and Brazile did the same.
No matter the matchups combinations, Arkansas played at pace and got downhill.
There are some things Calipari wants to iron out — Thomas dribbles when he should shoot, Pringle needs to be stronger going to the basket — but he is largely pleased with the progress to this point.
“In practice, we’ve been playing real fast,” Brazile said. “The conditioning probably has something to do with that. Everybody’s well conditioned. Us playing fast, hopefully that translates into the year and it’s a fun year.”
One of Calipari’s favorite parts of his second Arkansas iteration, though, is the players being coachable.
Calipari has long admitted he no longer yells, screams or cusses, but he frequently blew his whistle to offer instruction, criticism or praise. There wasn’t as much work on the defensive end — “Who wants to play defense in July?” Calipari quipped — but the excitement about the offensive end was present.
Calipari said he wants Thomas to take higher efficiency shots and Sealy to play more in advance, among other things.
But the speed of play was apparent, and the chemistry is developing.
“I feel like we’ve been playing together pretty good, just learning each other pretty good,” Wagner said. “Everybody on the court can play, so I feel like they all make it easier to play with. It’s been fun, it’s fun learning each other’s games.”
Calipari said Arkansas could play with three point guards on the floor at a given time. Wagner, Richmond and Acuff each could play together, with Thomas running as the primary ball handler at times. He also expressed excitement about playing through Ewin and Pringle as ball handlers.
Those approaches give the Razorbacks more offensive versatility. Paired with the overall better health and roster retention, there’s a reason Calipari spoke mostly glowingly about his roster for the better part of 46 minutes.
“I’m trying to make sure that everyone here is growing as a player, as a teammate and understanding winning matters,” Calipari said. “You want to help each other win. The more you win, the more you’re going to help each other, and they will benefit.”