Arkansas basketball has made the Sweet Sixteen in two years under John Calipari. Can the Razorbacks go further this March?
The tradition continues! It’s another year of our countdown of the top 100 preseason teams in college basketball until the start of the season. Each day, we will reveal the next team until we reach the team slotted at number one. Up next: Arkansas basketball.
Like a typical John Calipari squad, this year’s Arkansas basketball team is high on talent and low on experience. Is that necessarily a bad thing? If you want to win a championship, experience is a want. Talent, however, is a need. Arkansas basketball reached the Sweet Sixteen for the second consecutive postseason under John Calipari, who wasted no time picking up the program after Eric Musselman left it in the doldrums.
But by now, the Fayetteville faithful are clamoring for more. More, such as an Elite Eight appearance perhaps, or even a Final Four run. This season, despite a mass exodus often seen in the portal era, Arkansas basketball can return to the heights reached by Arkansas teams of decades past.
And as it often goes with John Calipari teams, the talent starts in the backcourt. A freshman point guard will get the nod in Bud Walton Arena this season, and it’s no unknown. Five-star recruit Jordan Smith Jr. out of the DMV is ranked second in the Class of 2026, behind only Tyran Stokes. Smith, however, arguably has the better skill-set to succeed immediately, and will benefit from the best mentor of guards in all of college basketball.
His backup is another freshman, Illinois native Davion Thompson. Thompson doesn’t quite have the size of Smith, but he’s a high-four-star recruit who could’ve started immediately at some Power Five schools. Bucking the trend of freshman guards, the shooting guard position will be led by Georgia transfer Jeremiah Wilkinson, one of the de-facto veterans on this roster.
Wilkinson is primarily of scoring value. Last season with the Bulldogs, he averaged 17.4 PPG, a mark that ranked in the top ten of qualifying players in the conference. He’ll continue to score in a John Calipari offense. Backing him up will be freshman Abdou Toure from West Haven, Connecticut. Toure is a physical guard who will benefit from learning behind Wilkinson.
Starting at the wing is one of just two returning players, Billy Richmond III. Richmond is the only player currently on the team that has spent both of Calipari’s first two seasons with Arkansas basketball. Last year, he was one of four Razorbacks who averaged in double figures, but the only one of that quartet that returns to Fayetteville. Backing up Richmond is five-star freshman JJ Andrews. Andrews has the talent to start quite literally anywhere else in the nation, but will likely be the sixth man off the bench for Arkansas basketball this year. Remember the name.
Moving to the frontcourt, Finnish forward Miikka Muurinen will likely draw the start. One of the most sought-out international recruits of the cycle, Muurinen is a seven-footer that can shoot from deep as a freshman. While he needs more muscle, especially playing against SEC centers, surely the staff in Fayetteville can find a way for that to happen.
Two players will provide depth at the power forward position. One, Paulo Semedo, redshirted last season. However, he’s another seven-footer and former four-star recruit that could see plenty of playing time in his second year in the Calipari system. Freshman Maper Maker from Australia will also see the court in a reserve role. No shocker here, but he is also seven feet tall.
And at center, likely starting will the only senior on the Arkansas basketball roster, Furman transfer Cooper Bowser. Bowser has twice been named to the SoCon All-Tournament team in his three seasons with the Paladins, and one of his best games came in last year’s SoCon tournament against ETSU, where he scored 21 points and added 11 rebounds.
Freshman Caleb Ourigou is a talented four-star recruit that will back up Bowser in the paint. Not quite seven feet, Ourigou is still plenty tall and has the size to compete in the SEC. Russian recruit Ilia Frolov could see rotational minutes as well.
Ultimately, how far Arkansas can go depends on if Coach Cal can get this team working as a cohesive unit. There are not five teams more talented than Arkansas is this season, but most of this team has never played a college game before. If Arkansas lost in the second round of the NCAA tournament or won it all, the result would not be surprising.
Head coach: John Calipari (35th season overall, 3rd at Arkansas)
2025-26 record: 28-9 (13-5)
2026 postseason finish: Lost to Arizona (109-88) in Sweet Sixteen of NCAA Tournament
Notable departures:
- All contributors except for Billy Richmond III
Notable non-conference games:
- vs. Virginia (Nov. 8) – Washington, D.C.
- vs. Indiana (Nov. 17) – New York City, NY
- vs. Michigan State (Nov. 26) – Detroit, MI
- at North Carolina (Dec. 1)
- vs. Arizona (Dec. 19) – Phoenix, AZ
Projected Rotation
PG: Jordan Smith Jr. (6-2, 210, Fr.)
247Sports Composite No. 2 ranked recruit
SG: Jeremiah Wilkinson (6-1, 190, Jr.)
2025-26 stats: 17.4 PPG, 2.0 RPG, 1.7 APG, 35.7 3P% (Georgia)
SF: Billy Richmond III (6-7, 205, Jr.)
2025-26 stats: 11.2 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 2.0 APG, 1.1 SPG
PF: Miikka Muurinen (7-0, 220, Fr.)
247Sports Composite five-star recruit (Finland)
C: Cooper Bowser (6-11, 230, Sr.)
2025-26 stats: 13.8 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 1.8 APG, 1.2 BPG (Furman)
6: JJ Andrews (6-6, 235, Fr.)
247Sports Composite No. 13 ranked recruit
7: Abdou Toure (6-5, 215, Fr.)
247Sports Composite No. 16 ranked recruit
8: Paulo Semedo (7-1, 225, So.)
247Sports Composite four-star recruit in Class of 2025
9: Caleb Ourigou (6-11, 250, Fr.)
247Sports Composite No. 86 ranked recruit
10: Davion Thompson (6-2, 190, Fr.)
247Sports Composite No. 41 ranked recruit
11: Maper Maker (7-0, 215, Fr.)
247Sports Composite four-star recruit
12: Ilia Frolov (7-0, 240, Fr.)
International Prospect (Russia)
Arkansas basketball team MVP: Billy Richmond III
Richmond enters his third year with Arkansas basketball having improved quite a bit from his freshman year (5.7 PPG) to last season (11.2 PPG). He’s starting on the wing, and will have to be a veteran presence for this squad. What does his ceiling look like? Last season in a win over Auburn, Richmond dropped 25 points on 12-15 shooting while adding four assists and three steals to his box score. All four of his career 20-point games came last February, and that month he averaged 19.7 PPG, 3.9 RPG, and 2.9 APG. There’s a good chance he can replicate that type of production to some level.
Arkansas basketball make-or-break player: Jordan Smith Jr.
The most talented Calipari guard since Tyrese Maxey is…probably Darius Acuff. But Jordan Smith Jr. is at least a close second. In the author’s opinion the best recruit in the Class of 2026, Smith is ready to be a lead guard at an SEC program. Though listed at 6’2″, Smith has a 6’8″ wingspan. Unlike other freshmen, Smith has plenty of defensive capabilities and a solid motor. It’s worth saying again: there is not another freshman like Smith in this class; he is one of one. In the hands of John Calipari, it would be shocking to see him not make a star turn.
Key statistic: Blocks per game
Last season, Arkansas ranked in the top-15 nationally with an average of 5.2 blocks per game. In conference games, the Razorbacks actually bumped that number up to 5.6 per game against solid competition. Part of that is due to John Calipari’s affinity for tall centers, and this year is no different. Arkansas basketball has four seven-footers on their roster, and it’s hard to imagine they aren’t capable of sending shots back again this year.
Arkansas basketball 2026-27 projections
Projected conference finish: 4th in the SEC
Projected postseason ceiling: NCAA champions