The backcourt has long been the anchor of Arkansas basketball coach John Calipari’s best teams throughout his illustrious career.
Through his time at UMass, Memphis and especially at Kentucky, dominant guard play was a staple of Coach Cal’s squads. Household names like Derrick Rose, John Wall and De’Aaron Fox went through the Calipari pipeline and turned into lottery picks and eventual NBA All Stars.
The Naismith Hall of Famer looks set to continue prioritizing the backcourt at Arkansas. This season, the Razorbacks will have a core guard rotation of top transfer Johnell Davis, Kentucky transfer DJ Wagner and five-star Boogie Fland. The future is bright, as well, with top-five prospect Darius Acuff Jr. joining the fold in 2025.
The roster Calipari has assembled during his short time in Fayetteville so far has attracted plenty of attention from the national media, with many predicting the Hogs to contend with the likes of the Alabama basketball program as serious contenders in the SEC. How far, exactly, Arkansas will rise will of course largely be determined by the strength of its backcourt.
Sleepers Media Sleeping on Johnell Davis
The folks at the podcast network Sleepers Media have done a series ranking the best backcourts in college basketball for the upcoming season, slotting the Razorbacks inside at No. 4. The pair of hosts, Riley Davis and Brian Rauf, open the segment with a discussion of which of the trio of Razorback guards would get left out of the starting lineup and play the sixth man role:
The two agreed the most likely candidate for that is Fland, given his youth and scoring ability making him an appealing spark plug off the bench. While the five-star New Yorker won’t love coming off the bench, Calipari can point to Rob Dillingham and Reed Sheppard as examples of a starting spot not meaning all that much.
“I do think Fland is the odd man out, but the two guards who got brought off the bench [at Kentucky] last year were both lottery picks,” Rauf said. “So it may not be the worst thing to come off the bench for Calipari.”
Indeed, there’s enough pie for everyone to get a slice, especially with Calipari’s new roster model having a tight core of nine rotation players.
“Boogie Fland is the pro prospect; Johnell Davis is the college star,” Rauf said. “Davis still needs to figure out how to go right…I don’t think his efficiency is going to transfer over to this level.”
“There was some questionable shot selection. There was inconsistent defensive effort. I think he contributed a lot to the up and down nature of FAU last season,” he added.
Well that’s a new one. The AAC Player of the Year who led the team in scoring and assists – and had the second-most steals and rebounds – is at fault for his team’s shortcomings? Hmm.
As far as the myth that Davis is a one-trick pony that can only drive left, you can turn on the highlights from him leading FAU to the 2023 Final Four and find that literally the first clip is of him going right.
Surprisingly, the hosts are a bit more kind to Wagner than most other media outlets. Davis hit back at critiques of his playmaking, pointing to his solid assist numbers as evidence that he can lead an offense.
“There were stretches [last year] where Wagner looked like a true point guard. Like he could be a table setter,” he remarked. “The fact he averaged over three assists per game last year is encouraging. He demonstrated the ability to make some reads out of ball screens and find the open man.”
One of their top concerns with the backcourt trio is their potential defensive shortcomings, which is a fair critique. Davis and Wagner are both capable defenders, but their offensive priorities lead to them taking some possessions off on the defensive end. That intensity is something Coach Cal will have to squeeze out of them. Fland being a score-first freshman guard means there’s some obvious room for improvement in his defending.
A knock on the credibility of the podcast comes when the hosts spend a good minute or two discussing D2 transfer Melo Sanchez as if he will be part of the core rotation – despite Calipari being very clear on what the hierarchy will look like.
Alabama Basketball Backcourt Head of the Class?
The Hogs’ No. 4 ranking slots them in behind a top three of North Carolina, Baylor, and Alabama. Nate Oats’ Crimson Tide getting the nod over Arkansas is notable considering how, as previously mentioned, the backcourt has always been the staple of Calipari’s teams.
The loaded Alabama basketball roster features returning guards in Mark Sears, who was first team All-SEC last year, and Latrell Wrightsell, along with newcomers in Auburn transfer Aden Holloway and four-star freshman Labaron Philon.
The hosts agree Sears is the best guard in the country, with Rauf even arguing Alabama’s group should be No. 1 on the list. They also discuss how Philon is an intriguing prospect that the coaching staff likes a lot due to his length and defensive abilities. A product of Link Academy in Missouri, Philon was ranked behind Fland as the No. 3 point guard in the 2024 class.
Holloway is someone the hosts refer to as Alabama’s “wildcard” for this season due to his great talent contrasting with his terrible efficiency numbers as a freshman – he shot just 31.8% from the field.
In some ways, Holloway might be most similar to what Wagner is for Arkansas. Both are former five-star recruits who entered the college game with great fanfare and high expectations, only to have underwhelming freshman campaigns. After these first-year campaigns, both players transferred across the conference to an SEC rival.
It will certainly be interesting to see whether Wagner and Holloway can realize their potential with a fresh start – and it will be box-office viewing when they face off against their former schools, especially given Holloway’s move to an in-state rival.
UNC’s high ranking makes sense given their returning trio of RJ Davis, Elliot Cadeau and Seth Trimble alongside five-star freshman Ian Jackson. The same goes for Baylor, who added Duke transfer Jeremy Roach and top-25 recruit Rob Wright to the fold alongside returners Langston Love and Jayden Nunn.
Looking at those lineups, the Hogs certainly stack up well with the nation’s most elite backcourts for the upcoming season. What knocks them down a peg is the relatively thin roster Calipari built. While that decision was strategic for a number of reasons, it does make Arkansas look slightly less impressive on-paper than the loaded rosters of other contenders.
But, as we all know, preseason rankings aren’t worth anything – the on-court product from November to March is what really matters.
Sleepers Touch On Arkansas Basketball Wings
The Hogs also check in the top ten of Sleepers’ list of best wing groups in the country at No. 7. The trio of highly-touted freshmen Karter Knox and Billy Richmond alongside Adou Thiero is certainly less heralded than the guards and big men, which feature the team’s highest-ranked recruit in Fland, highest-touted transfer in Davis, and the surprising returner in Trevon Brazile.
Given that, the fact Arkansas’ wings still garner top-ten attention speaks to the strong roster Calipari has constructed.
Hosts Carter Elliott and Greg Waddell are critical of Thiero’s limitations on the perimeter that showed during his time at Kentucky, which is certainly something he’s worked to improve this offseason. On Knox, the pair agree he is likely to start for the Hogs at the three spot due to his scoring prowess. While Richmond is less likely than the other freshmen to play a significant role in the rotation, his defensive prowess offers a different profile to his teammates that might allow him to carve out some minutes when the Hogs need to get some stops.
***
Full Sleepers Media segment on Arkansas’ backcourt:
***
More coverage of Arkansas basketball from BoAS:
