John Calipari talks roster building, next season's schedule
The Arkansas basketball team is in the midst of the offseason and the coaching staff is hard at work finalizing its roster for next season and building out the schedule for the 2026-27 season.
Head coach John Calipari was just in Mexico, where he got eyes on 2027 four-star guard Davion Thompson, who is announcing his college commitment on June 10. He’s a potential reclassification candidate, so there’s a chance the Link Academy product ends up on the roster next season.
Calipari hopped on 103.7 The Buzz in central Arkansas on Thursday, where he talked about his summer camps, finalizing his roster for next season and how the schedule is starting to shake out for next season.
Calipari still looking for one, possibly two more players
The glaring hole in next year’s roster is in the front court, as Arkansas still doesn’t have a true center on the roster.
Arkansas has been connected to Florida transfer Micah Handlogten, but he’s still in need of a waiver from the NCAA. The same goes for Malique Ewin, who entered the transfer portal before it closed.
There’s also a hole in the backcourt, as the Hogs lost Meleek Thomas, who is remaining in the NBA Draft and will not return to Arkansas next season. That’s where Thompson comes in, should he reclassify, to add more depth to that position alongside Jordan Smith Jr. and Jeremiah Wilkinson.
But Calipari isn’t in the business of simply adding players just for the sake of adding them.
“I was in Mexico recruiting, and we’re going to add one, maybe two more guys to the roster,” Calipari said. “But I don’t just add to add. So if the team doesn’t look like some somebody thinks it should look, that’s okay, because I’ve had teams like that.
“What you want to do is make sure you got good people with good hearts, who can be good teammates and have a special thing that they do that’s different than anybody else on the team.”
Arkansas schedule still taking shape
As of the writing of this piece, we’ve only got three matchups that have been set for next season. The Razorbacks will head to Phoenix, Arizona, to play the Wildcats in a Sweet 16 rematch, and will travel to Detroit to play Michigan State on Thanksgiving Day.
Calipari said, as long as he’s the head coach at Arkansas, the Hogs will always play on Thanksgiving Day because of the TV ratings and NIL opportunities it presents to his players.
“We have another neutral game, we’re doing the Thanksgiving game, which we’ll do every year that I’m here,” Calipari said. “Because it’s, by far, the highest-rated by double, by triple, the highest-rated game of the year regular season. What it does now for NIL, it adds value for the players as we go out and do these deals for them.”
There’s also the SEC/ACC Challenge, which will likely have the Razorbacks on the road. That opponent hasn’t been officially announced, but HawgBeat took a stab at which teams the Razorbacks could play.
No other games have been reported yet, but Calipari said they’re still working on getting another home game, but it hasn’t been easy.
“I didn’t think it’d be this hard to fill in a home game,” Calipari said.
The way he’s worked the neutral site games for next season, though, will mean a better home slate the following year in 2027-28.
“It’s been a struggle,” Calipari said. “The game we’re doing with Arizona, so (in 2027-28) our home schedule will be Arizona, Michigan State, and an ACC game.”
Calipari did hint at another neutral-site game next season against a “big-time opponent,” but the game hasn’t been finalized yet.
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