John Calipari Is Wondering Why Darius Acuff Isn’t a National Player of the Year Candidate

Acuff had another huge night in Arkansas' win over Texas A&M.

Arkansas coach John Calipari believes Darius Acuff should be garnering more attention for National Player of the Year. | Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

No. 20 Arkansas soundly beat visiting Texas A&M on Wednesday night, 99–84, in a game that featured another gem from Razorbacks true freshman Darius Acuff. 

In 37 minutes of action, Acuff scored 22 points while adding seven assists, five rebounds and three steals to the docket in another impressive performance.

Acuff’s latest big game had Razorbacks coach John Calipari wondering why Acuff isn’t a larger part of the conversation for National Player of the Year.

“I’m a little disappointed. …Why isn’t he in the equation in the Player of the Year in the Country? …He’s averaging as many as all those people. He’s got six assists. He’s got three rebounds. He’s doing things in the guts of games that maybe they are, but he is too! So why isn’t he being mentioned? He’s playing when he could probably take some time off games, and he’s playing anyway. I mean, he goes through the shootaround and only does half of it so he has enough to play the game. Like should he play down in Florida? Probably not, but I’ll tell you right now if I said you’re not playing down there he’d bust out laughing, ‘You’re out of your mind.’”

John Calipari on Darius Acuff 👀

"I'm a little disappointed, why isn't he in the National Player of the Year equation?... He's doing things in the guts of games. And he's playing when he could probably take some games off. He's playing anyway"pic.twitter.com/Wiq7I9Idbb

— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) February 26, 2026

Acuff has been a stud, and he’s a huge reason for the Razorbacks’ success in Year Two under Calipari.

Acuff’s National Player of the Year Case

Not many players are performing better than Acuff right now nationally. And by all indications, he’s doing this on a hurt foot, per Calipari.

Acuff has scored in double-digits in every game this season, and has scored 21 points or more in each of Arkansas’ last nine games, which feature two 31-point performances and a 49-point outing in a double-overtime loss at Alabama on Feb. 18.

Acuff is eighth nationally in scoring, averaging 22.2 points per game as a true freshman, to go along with 6.2 assists and 3.1 rebounds. He’s also shooting 49.9% from the floor overall and 43.0% from three.

He’s a shoo-in All-American for the Razorbacks, and will be First-Team All-SEC at the end of the year. While Cameron Boozer at Duke and AJ Dybantsa at BYU remain two of the top favorites for National Player of the Year, Acuff should probably garner more consideration for the top individual award in the sport, especially considering his recent stretch of play through injury.

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