photo credit: Craven Whitlow / Craven Whitlow / Darius Acuff
The 2025 NBA Draft gets started on Wednesday night in the Barclays Center in Brooklyn as a talented crop of prospects will wait to hear their names called.
The Dallas Mavericks have been on the clock for the last six weeks after being awarded the No. 1 pick in the lottery, and Duke freshman phenom Cooper Flagg can be sharpied in for that top slot. After that, the rest of the pecking order remains a mystery.
For Arkansas basketball fans, all eyes will be on standout forward Adou Thiero. Guard Johnell Davis and center Jonas Aidoo are not expected to hear their names called, and will likely have to play their way into a roster spot through the G-League.
Thiero, however, has an athletic profile that has caught a lot of attention from NBA scouts. The junior measured 6-foot-6.25 barefoot, but was listed at 6-foot-8 (in shoes) on Arkansas’ roster last year. Thiero has a plus wingspan of 7-foot, and is built like a tight end with a muscly, 220-pound frame. He can also jump out of the gym, registering a 41-inch vertical leap at the NBA Combine.
The Pittsburgh native is right on the borderline between the first and second rounds. CBS, Yahoo and The Ringer slot him in at the tail end of the first round in their latest mocks, while The Athletic and ESPN place him at the very beginning of the second. Undoubtedly, Arkansas basketball coach John Calipari feels he deserves a first round pick, going so far to compare him to NBA All-Star Tyrese Maxey in this clip:
Thiero’s borderline draft status puts Arkansas basketball coach John Calipari’s historic streak in jeopardy. Coach Cal has had a player selected in the first round of the NBA Draft in 17 consecutive years. The streak began with Derrick Rose going first overall out of Memphis in 2008, and Calipari finished off his tenure with the Tigers with Tyreke Evans going fourth overall in 2009.
Over his 15 seasons at Kentucky, Calipari assembled some of the most talented rosters of all time. He produced a total of 50 NBA Draft picks with the Wildcats, with half of them going in the lottery and 37 going in the first round. Coach Cal produced at least one first-round pick in every season he spent in Lexington.
In their first year without Calipari, the Wildcats will lose that 15-year streak. No Kentucky players from Mark Pope’s first roster are projected close to the first round. Sharpshooting guard Koby Brea and big man Amari Williams might hear their names called in the second round.
But Arkansas is also at risk of snapping Coach Cal’s streak after his first year in Fayetteville. The hope is that Thiero’s elite athleticism, slashing ability and defensive versatility will be enough to cement him as a first-round pick, though his age (21 years old) and limited shooting cap his ceiling as a prospect.
But even if Coach Cal’s streak ends up getting snapped and Thiero has to wait until Thursday’s second round to hear his name called, Razorback fans have something special to anticipate with next season’s roster.
Historical Trend Favors Arkansas in 2026
Thiero and guard Boogie Fland were viewed as likely first-round picks early last season, but prolonged absences from injury hurt their stock. Fland ended up returning to college and transferred to Florida, while Thiero stayed in the draft.
Calipari’s second Arkansas squad is shaping up to be a tantalizing group for NBA scouts. After withdrawing his name from this year’s draft, sophomore guard Karter Knox is viewed as a prime breakout candidate who could end up as a first-round pick in 2026, or maybe even a lottery selection. Five-star freshman guards Darius Acuff Jr. and Meleek Thomas are seen as potential one-and-done prospects.
2026 NBA mock drafts are a bit sparse at the moment since most of the focus is still on this year’s cycle, but NBADraftRoom lists both Acuff and Knox as first-round talents in its latest mock. NBADraft.net doesn’t have Knox on the list – it was posted in May when Knox was still in the 2025 draft pool – but Acuff and Thomas are both first-round picks in the latest mock.
If those three guards are able to live up to their respective potentials and play their way into the first round of the 2026 NBA Draft, then Arkansas will have one of the most loaded rosters in the country. That amount of talent on one team bodes well for the Hogs’ potential to make another deep run in March Madness next season.
Because of blue bloods’ tendency to hoard elite talent in college basketball, having three first-round picks on one team isn’t exactly a rare phenomenon.
But it’s still an impressive feat. According to research by Best of Arkansas Sports, there have been 20 instances of college basketball teams producing three or more first round picks in the same draft cycle since 2000. Of those 20 teams, 16 made it to the Elite Eight or further in the NCAA Tournament.
Calipari accomplished the feat five times at Kentucky, even producing five first-rounders in 2010 and four each in 2012, when the Wildcats won the national title. He also produced such a quartet in 2015, when Kentucky started the season 38-0 before losing in the Final Four.
Five of those 20 teams with first-round trios won the national championship. North Carolina (2005), Florida (2007), Duke (2015) and Villanova (2018) join Calipari’s 2012 squad. Another four teams reached the Final Four, including Kentucky in 2015 and the 2022 Duke squad that knocked Arkansas out in the Elite Eight.
Seven more of these stacked teams reached the Elite Eight. UCLA in 2014 and North Carolina in 2019 managed to reach the Sweet 16. Rick Barnes’ Texas Longhorns (2011) and Mike Krzyzewski’s Duke Blue Devils (2017) were both upset in the Round of 32 despite having three soon-to-be first rounders on the roster.
The closest Arkansas has gotten to a trio of first-rounders in the 21st century is the 2022-23 season, when one-and-done guards Anthony Black and Nick Smith Jr. both went in the first round while five-star forward Jordan Walsh slipped down into the early second round, going off the board 38th overall and landing with the Boston Celtics via a trade.
The Razorbacks did accomplish this feat under legendary head coach Nolan Richardson when four Arkansas players were selected in the 1992 NBA Draft, with three of them going in the first round. Todd Day, Oliver Miller and Lee Mayberry were first-rounders while Isaiah Morris went 37th overall.
That season, the Hogs won the SEC and earned a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament, but lost to Memphis and star point guard – and current head coach – Penny Hardaway in the Round of 32. That Arkansas basketball core had, however, reached the Final Four in 1990 and Elite Eight in 1991.
If Arkansas is able to replicate a trio of first rounders next season with Knox, Thomas and Acuff, then more recent history suggests there’s an 80% chance of the Hogs advancing even farther in March than they did this year.
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First-Round NBA Draft Trios
Here’s a full look at how the teams with first-round trios fared in the NCAA Tournament. The below teams in bold failed to advance to the Elite Eight, while italicized teams had four or more first-rounders. We’ve placed an asterisk by national champions.
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