It’s a big week for Isaiah Sealy.
The four-star prospect got his senior season off on the right foot with a 23-point performance in Springdale’s 71-54 exhibition win over Broken Arrow, Okla., on Tuesday.
He also had 7 rebounds, 4 blocks and 4 steals, but the highlight of the night was a vicious posterization in the third quarter. The play got plenty of attention on social media, but didn’t necessarily surprise his father.
“I’m not taking away from it, it was really nice, but I have seen it a couple times, man,” Oscar Sealy, who’s also an assistant coach at Springdale, told Best of Arkansas Sports. “Just following him on the circuit in the summers, there’s been a couple bodies that I’ve seen from him.”
Next up for Sealy is the Bulldogs’ first real game — at White Hall on Friday night. Then they turn around the next day for an even bigger regular-season matchup. He and his teammates will square off with two-time defending 4A state champion Little Rock Christian and 2026 five-star recruit JJ Andrews, which is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. CT Saturday at Jacksonville High as part of the Da Matchup Showcase.
Between Springdale’s opener and the showdown between arguably the top two players in the state regardless of classification, though, Sealy has something else to take care of.
The 6-foot-7 small forward will announce his college commitment at 2:45 p.m. CT Saturday live on the 247Sports YouTube Channel. He’s down to a final four that consists of Arkansas, Boston College, California and Ole Miss.
That impending decision is why Best of Arkansas Sports caught up with his father this week.
Arkansas vs Ole Miss for Sealy
While there are four finalists for Isaiah Sealy, sources have indicated it’s likely a battle between the two SEC programs — Arkansas and Ole Miss. That makes a lot of sense given their proximity and premier coaches.
Best of Arkansas Sports has heard for a while that Sealy was a fan of Chris Beard, dating back to his time at Texas. That hasn’t changed now that the controversial coach is at Ole Miss.
“He likes Beard’s style,” Oscar Sealy said. “He’s tough. I think he needs a tough coach. I mean, all four have tough coaches. … He just kind of likes (Ole Miss’) style and their toughness.”
Another major key working in the Rebels’ favor is their hire of Wes Flanigan as an assistant coach. He is an Arkansas native, a connection Oscar Sealy said “absolutely” helped in Ole Miss’ recruitment of his son.
The son of legendary high school coach Al Flanigan, Wes Flanigan starred at Little Rock Parkview before becoming an All-SEC player at Auburn. He left his alma mater following the 2022-23 season to join Beard’s staff at Ole Miss and has also been recruiting Jacob Lanier, a top native Arkansan in the Class of 2026.
Oscar Sealy also mentioned Flanigan’s time at UALR and described him as “a good guy and a smart basketball mind.”
As for Arkansas, it wasn’t until the middle of the summer that Isaiah Sealy heard from new head coach John Calipari. The connection hadn’t happened as of June 21, when BoAS ran a story on Calipari’s in-state recruiting efforts, but Oscar Sealy was very understanding because he knew the first priority was putting together a roster for the 2024-25 season.
Sure enough, Sealy announced he had been re-offered by the Razorbacks on July 15. According to a source, the legendary coach was impressed with his balanced performance at the Peach Jam.
“It just happened kind of over one game that Cal watched him play,” Oscar Sealy said. “He’s just been telling him the style of play that the Razorbacks have fits perfectly with (Isaiah’s) game.”
As soon as that happened, Arkansas cemented itself as a legitimate contender for Sealy.
“Cal’s a pro coach,” Oscar Sealy said. “He develops pros and that’s what Zay wants to be. So him saying that kind of kept Arkansas up in that top four list because it’s Coach Cal. If Coach Cal is going to talk, you’re going to listen.”
Potential Role with Arkansas Basketball?
A consensus top-100 recruit, Isaiah Sealy is ranked between No. 55 nationally on ESPN and No. 98 overall on 247Sports. The result is a No. 70 ranking in the 247Sports Composite, which combines all of the major recruiting services.
That would make him a major get for most schools, but Arkansas has turned into a recruiting juggernaut under John Calipari. All three of the Razorbacks’ main signees in 2024 were five-star, top-30 recruits and their two signees so far in 2025 are ranked 8th and 12th in the 247Sports Composite.
Sealy’s ranking is much closer to that of Casmir Chavis, who was once ranked inside the top 100 and ended up at No. 136 on On3. He was a late addition on this year’s team and is viewed as more of a developmental player in Calipari’s new roster-building philosophy.
That has prompted speculation that Sealy might be a similar type of player. College basketball insider Trilly Donovan even posted in his discord that Sealy would be an “NIL walk-on” — essentially someone who isn’t immediately in the main 8- or 9-man rotation.
However, when asked what kind of plan Calipari had laid out for his son if he chose Arkansas, Oscar Sealy said that isn’t something that’s been discussed at length.
“I haven’t really gotten into that with any of the coaches really,” Sealy said. “Once he makes his choice and goes where he goes, then I’m sure they’ll have a full plan. I’ve heard things like six-month plan and two-year plan, but we haven’t gotten into that.
“We just try to build a relationship with the coaches, kind of see where their head’s at, how they coach, how they develop and kind of go from there really.”
Even compared to Chavis, Sealy appears to be a more talented player with a much higher upside. That’s especially true when compared to the other freshman “walk-on” types Calipari signed — Jaden Karuletwa and Ayden Kelley.
Of course, the Hogs coach signed those two in a pinch considering he was putting together an entire roster from scratch and Chavis landed in his lap when he was released from his National Letter of Intent with Washington.
Given more time, perhaps Calipari can start using those spots on players more in the range of Sealy. However, that’s a two-way street and requires the recruit — who would probably get immediate playing time elsewhere — to be on-board with competing with a loaded roster.
It doesn’t sound like that would be an issue for Sealy.
“What I’ve told him (is) he doesn’t need to pick any school based on who else is going there because if your goals are to get to the highest level, there’s going to be other players there at their highest level,” Oscar Sealy said. “So making a decision based on who else is going there, I think it’s a little foolish and a little scary to me.
“I feel like if you’re a ball player, you’re good. The coaches are good, they’re going to develop you. It doesn’t matter who’s there, you’re there to get better, get to the highest level you can get to.”
The Wildcards for Isaiah Sealy
Perhaps the first thing that jumps out about Isaiah Sealy’s final four is the seemingly random inclusion of two schools on opposite sides of the country.
As crazy as it sounds, California and Boston College are now conference rivals in the ACC, but both joined the league from elsewhere in the past two decades — the Bears from the Pac-12 this year and the Eagles from the Big East in 2005.
Neither program has a particularly storied past in basketball.
Cal did win it all in 1959 and finished runner-up the next year, but it hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament since 2016. It last reached the second weekend in 1997.
Boston College’s NCAA Tournament drought is even longer, with its last appearance coming in 2009. The furthest it’s gone is the Elite Eight, which most recently happened in 1994.
However, it sounds like Sealy has a good relationship with their current head coaches, Mark Madsen and Earl Grant, respectively.
“With those circuits, you get to meet these coaches and if they’re far, it doesn’t matter because they see him every summer,” Sealy’s father said. “He based his final four mostly on relationships — the coaches that call him more, that check on him, that built a really good relationship.”
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Check out some more highlights of Isaiah Sealy here:
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