NBA All-Stars Should Give Calipari Advantage with 5-Star Recruit + More UA Updates

Chris Cenac, John Calipari, Arkansas basketball, Arkansas recruiting
photo credit: Instagram/Chris Cenac / Arkansas Athletics

With the early signing period now less than a month away, Arkansas basketball still has only one commitment in the Class of 2025.

There’s nothing to worry about, though, as the Razorbacks are actively pursuing multiple high-caliber recruits with arguably the best recruiter the game has ever seen, John Calipari, leading the charge.

It also helps that so many players are still on the market. While only four of 30 five-star football recruits in the 247Sports Composite remain uncommitted, just 11 of 26 five-star basketball prospects have announced their pledge — despite basketball’s early signing period starting three weeks before football’s.

According to On3’s Joe Tipton, one of those players will be in Fayetteville for an official visit this weekend: Chris Cenac, a 6-foot-10 center and the No. 8 overall player in the 2025 class, according to the 247Sports Composite.

He is returning the favor after Calipari and assistant Chin Coleman recently made another short trip up to Branson, Mo., to see him at Link Academy, the same program that produced Jordan Walsh. (Mason Jones also spent a postgraduate year at Link, attending the prep school before heading to Connors State C.C. and eventually ending up at Arkansas.)

Last week, Cenac cut his list of 12 schools down to seven finalists and Arkansas made the cut alongside Auburn, Baylor, Houston, Kentucky, LSU and Tennessee.

He is an intriguing prospect and one Inside Arkansas’ Curtis Wilkerson sees as a likely one-and-done lottery pick because of how he projects moving forward.

“This is a dude who wasn’t even ranked by the major recruiting services, I don’t know, a year ago, and he has gone through the roof and now he’s a top-10 player in the class,” Wilkerson said in a preview of his visit. “He is still a work in progress, but his talent skillset is undeniable and he’s only scratching the surface.”

In a recent interview with League Him at the USA Basketball junior national team minicamp, Cenac specifically mentioned Anthony Davis and Karl-Anthony Towns as two players he tries to model his game after. That has to work in Arkansas’ favor because both of those regular NBA All-Stars were coached by not only Calipari at Kentucky, but also assistant — and “big man whisperer” — Kenny Payne.

Landing a player like Cenac would become even more important if the Razorbacks miss out on Caleb Wilson, a 6-foot-9 power forward from Atlanta, Ga., who is ranked No. 5 overall in the class.

While Wilkerson remains confident Arkansas will eventually get Wilson on an official visit and make a late move in his recruitment, the national perception is that it may be a two-team race between Kentucky and North Carolina for Wilson, with the Wildcats in the driver’s seat.

Those two schools are the “clear front-runners,” wrote Rivals basketball recruiting director Rob Cassidy, who added that “there’s some confidence starting to radiate from the Kentucky side.”

Can Arkansas Reel in Meleek Thomas?

Perhaps the biggest looming question when it comes to Arkansas basketball recruiting is whether or not John Calipari can finish the deal with Meleek Thomas.

It was once considered a long shot that the Razorbacks could land both Darius Acuff, who committed over the summer, and Thomas, especially with UConn being a factor for the latter, but now it seems like the most likely scenario.

Thomas was on hand for the field storming after the Arkansas football team knocked off No. 4 Tennessee two weeks ago and that atmosphere surely didn’t hurt Arkansas’ chances.

One thing the Razorbacks have to keep an eye on is Thomas’ scheduled visit to Kansas State next weekend. That could shift the momentum in his recruitment — if it happens.

These things are very fluid in college basketball and plans routinely change. For example, just a month ago, it was reported that five-star point guard Kingston Flemings would be visiting Fayetteville this weekend. However, Best of Arkansas Sports has learned that the visit is no longer expected to happen.

In the meantime, Thomas is tearing it up in the Overtime Elite league in Atlanta. Playing for the City Reapers, he has averaged a whopping 25.3 points on 64.3% shooting, including an incredible 52.6% (10 for 19) from beyond the arc, across three preseason games. Thomas has also contributed 6.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.3 steals in his 26.3 minutes per game.

A High 4-Star to Watch

Before heading to Hot Springs and Pine Bluff for their Tip-Off Tour event, the Razorbacks hosted yet another high-caliber recruit in Shon Abaev late last week. He was in Fayetteville from Wednesday through Friday.

The 6-foot-7 wing out of Calvary Christian Academy in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., is a consensus four-star prospect, but knocking on the door of five-star status. Checking in at No. 30 overall in the 247Sports Composite, he’s ranked as high as No. 24 nationally by Rivals.

As Curtis Wilkerson pointed out in his breakdown on Inside Arkansas’ YouTube channel, it’s unclear where he falls on the Razorbacks’ priority list because they’ve been on some other players for much longer. Abaev didn’t pick up an offer from Arkansas until Sept. 18.

Still, if Calipari went all-in on the Israeli native and he chose to play for the Razorbacks, it would be a solid pickup. Abaev is coming off a huge summer in which he averaged 21.1 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.2 assists and shot 38.5% from deep on the Under Armour circuit and earned MVP honors at the Under Armour Elite 24.

Potential for Class of 2025

We probably shouldn’t gloss over the one player currently committed to the Razorbacks. Darius Acuff is at least one of the best point guards in the country, with some considering him No. 1 on that list.

He showed why that’s the case during the annual USA Basketball junior national team minicamp in Colorado Springs, Colo., earlier this month. According to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony, Acuff “did whatever he wanted with the ball in his hands,” leading to some NBA representatives comparing him to one of Calipari’s most recent top-10 picks, Rob Dillingham.

“(Acuff) is a significant scoring and passing talent for home the game clearly comes naturally, with tremendous ballhandling ability and shotmaking prowess that makes him difficult to contain,” Givony wrote. “He got into the paint at will all weekend, driving in both directions using an array of crossovers and hesitation moves, dishing to teammates off the dribble and finishing off the glass with outstanding touch. Acuff’s willingness to create for others looked much improved.”

Needless to say, that’s not a bad starting point for what could be one of the strongest recruiting classes in the country in 2025.

Gone are the days of Calipari signing 7-8 big-time freshmen, but he still wants to bring in 3-4 each year and adding the likes of Meleek Thomas, Chris Cenac and one other top-30 recruit — perhaps Shon Abaev or someone else — would give Arkansas basketball its best class ever.

Arkansas Legacy Reschedules Official Visit

At one point, in-state standout JJ Andrews was scheduled to take an official visit to Arkansas this weekend. However, those plans changed earlier this month. On Oct. 3, he released an official visit schedule that didn’t even include the Razorbacks.

One week later, Andrews posted a photo of himself with John Calipari, thanking him and assistant coaches Kenny Payne and Chin Coleman for stopping by Little Rock Christian to see him. Well, about a week after that, he shared yet another new visit schedule.

This one includes a stop in Fayetteville at the very end of the year, from Dec. 29-31. The trip will include getting to see the Arkansas basketball team in action, as it hosts Oakland for its final non-conference tune-up at 7 p.m. CT on Dec. 30.

Andrews, who is ranked No. 15 overall in the Class of 2026 by ESPN, already took official visits to Missouri and North Carolina State in September. He’s also set to visit Marquette and Oklahoma in February.

It’s worth noting that Andrews will get another set of five official visits beginning Aug. 1 of his senior year, but NCAA rules prevent him from using any of them on a school he had previously officially visited.

The latest in-state blue-chip basketball recruit, Andrews is the son of legendary Arkansas offensive lineman Shawn Andrews and has led Little Rock Christian to back-to-back state titles.

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For more Arkansas basketball recruits to be aware of and some film of Chris Cenac, be sure to watch Curtis Wilkerson’s fantastic breakdown here:

YouTube video

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More coverage of Arkansas basketball and Arkansas recruiting from BoAS… 

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