John Calipari 'had a ball' coaching Darius Acuff at Arkansas

John Calipari knew he had a special player in Darius Acuff, even if he was only a freshman. The Arkansas coach only wished he had more time following the team’s Sweet 16 exit.

Acuff is a projected lottery pick in the upcoming NBA Draft, so the expectation is that this was the lone season of college basketball for the point guard. Calipari brought out quite the campaign from him though.

“He was the ultimate competitor, had a will to win, would make baskets because he wasn’t afraid to miss late in games,” Calipari said of Acuff. “He and Meleek and the other guys, they set the stage for growth. You’re going to have an opportunity to get better, but it’s hard. The league is hard. You’ve got to be a gym rat, if you really want to do this.

“So those guys proved it. I had a ball coaching them. I mean, I’m sick that we lost this game, that I couldn’t do more to try to make it closer so we could get by. But I hugged each of them after, told them I loved them. I said, what you did for us and how much I appreciate what you did for this program and our state and university.”

In 36 games this season, Acuff put up 23.5 points per game, 3.1 rebounds, 6.4 assists, shot 48.4% from the floor and 44% from three-point range. Some NBA mocks have him going No. 6 overall! Asked what he’ll remember from 2025-26, Acuff kept it simple.

“Brotherhood, for sure, with the team,” Acuff said. “Great support from the fans. I don’t know, a lot of good stuff. It was a great year, for sure.”

Without Acuff, presumably, Calipari will have to retool the roster to make a run next year. It starts in the immediacy.

“Normally, when a season ends for me, I’m out of town and we could do stuff by Zoom,” Calipari said. “You can’t do that right now. Now, you’ve got to figure out your own team, what does it look like? Who wants to come back? Who’s putting their name in the draft? How serious is that, if they put their name in the draft? You’ve got to go through all that. And I’ve done none of it right now.

“I just know that a bunch of guys gave me great hugs, and they appreciate what happened for them. I hope every one of them have a chance to do what they’re trying to get done. I had a great group of guys. We just didn’t quite have it. And they played out of their minds.”