Arkansas head coach John Calipari spotted at Thunder vs. Timberwolves Game 4

John Calipari was in the building for Game 4 of the NBA’s Western Conference Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timerbwolves to cheer on a few of his former players. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Cason Wallace (Thunder) as well as Julius Randle and Rob Dillingham (Timberwolves) all played under Calipari at Kentucky.

The Timberwolves official account posted a photo of Calipari at Target Center rocking Razorbacks colors as he donned a red suit. Overall, Calipari produced 50 NBA Draft picks across a total of 15 seasons as the coach of the Wildcats before taking over at Arkansas this past season.

legendary coach in the building 👀

👋 @CoachCalArk pic.twitter.com/wweFmDr1fD

— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) May 27, 2025

Gilgeous-Alexander played one season for Calipari at Kentucky in 2017-18 and helped lead the team to the Sweet Sixteen. He is coming off of an MVP season in which he led the NBA with 32.7 points in addition to 6.4 assists, 5.0 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 1.0 blocks per game.

Randle helped take the Wildcats to the national title game in 2014, where they ultimately lost to Connecticut. He is in his first season with Minnesota after being traded from the New York Knicks in the offseason, averaging 18.7 points, 7.1 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game.

John Calipari and the Razorbacks are coming off of a 22-14 record in their first season under Calipari, advancing to the Sweet Sixteen. Arkansas forward Adou Thiero is currently projected as a second-round pick according to ESPN.

The Thunder currently hold an 84-79 lead on the Timberwolves with 1:35 remaining in the third quarter. They currently lead 2-1 in the series with Game 5 set for Wednesday in Oklahoma City.

Karter Knox withdraws from NBA Draft, will return to Arkansas for 2025-26 season

John Calipari has been known for having one-and-dones. However, he won’t have any from during his debut season at Arkansas with the decision announced today by Karter Knox.

Knox will be withdrawing his name from the 2025 NBA Draft after testing over the past month, per On3’s Joe Tipton. That will have him back in Fayetteville for a sophomore season with the ‘Hogs.

Knox appeared in 36 games, 24 being starts as the season went, as a freshman for the Razorbacks. He averaged 8.3 points (46.2% FG, 35% 3PT), 3.0 rebounds, and 1.0 assists per game. That had him sixth on the roster in all three statistics, plus field-goal percentage, while being third in three-point percentage with half a block having him fifth in that category as well.

On3’s Sam Gillenwater contributed to this report.