Photo Credit: Arkansas Athletics
Arkansas basketball coach John Calipari is arguably the single greatest producer of NBA talent that college hoops has ever seen.
While the Head Hog’s streak of 17 consecutive seasons with a first round NBA Draft pick was snapped this year, Adou Thiero’s second-round selection by the Los Angeles Lakers made him the 62nd draft pick Coach Cal has produced throughout his storied career. While big men like Marcus Camby and Anthony Davis were generational talents who both starred for Calipari, the 66-year-old is known for specializing in the development of guards.
From NBA All-Stars like John Wall and Devin Booker to MVP winners like Derrick Rose and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Coach Cal always seems to have a blue-chip lead guard at the center of his team. His final Kentucky squad featured a pair of lottery picks in the backcourt in Rob Dillingham and Reed Sheppard, and Boogie Fland looked destined for a similar landing spot last season before a hand injury derailed his freshman campaign.
While Fland is gone to Florida, Calipari brings in a pair of highly-touted, five-star guards in the Class of 2025 in Darius Acuff and Meleek Thomas. They’ll have the chance to play alongside experienced junior floor general DJ Wagner to form one of the nation’s most formidable backcourts.
Acuff dominated the litany of prestigious circuits he competed in this season, including the McDonald’s All-American Game. The future Razorback dropped 24 points at the Nike Hoops Summit, averaged over 20 points on the Nike EYBL circuit and garnered MVP honors at the Iverson Classic after dropping 32 points and 11 assists.
The Detroit talent is one of the most pro-ready guards in the upcoming draft class, right up there with Louisville five-star freshman Mikel Brown Jr., who put on a clinic during the FIBA U-19 World Cup. Acuff is a projected lottery pick in the 2026 NBA Draft according to ESPN and NBADraftRoom’s most recent mocks, and CBS’ Kyle Boone has him penciled in at No. 7 overall.
Boone and the folks at NBADraftRoom.com also view rising sophomore wing Karter Knox as a first-round talent. If Thomas is able to live up to his five-star potential and plays his way into the first round of the draft, then Arkansas would be set up nicely for success in March with a trio of high-caliber draft prospects spearheading the squad.
But a Razorback broadcaster and former Arkansas basketball assistant coach pointed out that while Acuff and Thomas both look the part of future NBA players, they might be operating on different timelines.
Matt Zimmerman Says Meleek Thomas Needs Some More Time
Matt Zimmerman, the color commentator on the Razorback Sports Network affectionately known as Coach Z, raved about Acuff’s first impressions in summer scrimmages, calling him “the real deal.”
“He’s got an attack-first mindset and a great hesitation, dribble and then accelerate to the basket and finish,” Zimmerman told Wess Moore on 103.7 The Buzz FM’s Out of Bounds show on Tuesday. “He’s a very confident player. He’s not the loudest guy in the world, he’s not yelling and screaming out there all the time. But you’ll see him talking to teammates, and he’s got a presence about him. He’s a true point guard.”
“Our fans are going to love him.”
The Darius Acuff heater — which conveniently regularly shows up in winning time — is some of the good stuff.
No disrespect to Karter Knox, but I think Acuff is Arkansas’ best player next year. pic.twitter.com/bsMY4ICNRT
— Isaac Trotter (@Isaac__Trotter) June 18, 2025
On Thomas, however, Zimmerman was more cautious with his expectations in year one..
“Meleek’s a lot thinner, a lot skinner than Darius is, but he’s a very talented freshman,” he said. “He can shoot it, that’s one of his strengths. He’s a little bit of a slasher, too.”
At 6-foot-4, Thomas is two inches taller than Acuff, while they are both officially listed at 180 pounds. Zimmerman said the wiry shooting guard is spending a lot of time with strength and conditioning coach Dave Richardson to bulk up and add more physicality to his game.
Most NBA draft outlets are much lower on Thomas’ pro prospects compared to Acuff. The Pittsburgh native does not appear in the first round in Boone’s and NBADraftRoom.com’s mocks, and ESPN’s Jonathan Givony does not have him on his 60-prospect big board. NBADraft.net appears to be the outlier, listing Thomas at No. 22 in a June 25 mock.
Unlike Acuff, Zimmerman said he does not view Thomas as a one-and-done prospect.
“I think we’ll get him more than one year,” he said.
That would put him in a similar situation to Knox, returning to school as a sophomore with the chance to show off his talents as a more mature prospect alongside whichever five-star guard Calipari inevitably brings in the 2026 class.
Forwards PJ Washington and Terrence Jones were both highly-touted recruits who returned for a second season under Calipari at Kentucky and were selected in the first round. Combo guard Immanuel Quickley, however, is the best example of Thomas’ potential as a two-and-done prospect. Quickley averaged 16.1 points as a sophomore, sharing Co-SEC Player of the Year honors with Mason Jones and going 25th overall in the 2020 NBA Draft.
Arkansas basketball fans will selfishly hope that Thomas can put on enough weight to survive the physical SEC gauntlet – while also staying skinny enough to squeeze in a second year in a Razorback jersey.
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2025-26 Razorback Basketball
Going to be a very exciting team to watch.
You will love this team
Outstanding guards & old experienced athletic bigs.
Best ever seen Trevon in summer.
DJ been outstanding
Karter & Billy relentless @FSBank Basketball Report @OnlyInArk @HogsPlus pic.twitter.com/9gzuxGXjQ1
— Matt Zimmerman (@CoachZ_ARKANSAS) July 9, 2025
See the latest from Hogs basketball practice:
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