All Hogs

Calipari, Arkansas staff get early jump to this week's road recruiting stops

Head Hog checking in on east coast priority targets on Sunday, Monday
Kevin McPherson|
Razorbacks coach John Calipari at practice at the Eddie Sutton Practice Center in Fayetteville, Ark.
Razorbacks coach John Calipari at practice at the Eddie Sutton Practice Center in Fayetteville, Ark. | Andy Hodges-Hogs on SI Images

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Arkansas Razorbacks

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — John Calipari had just finished hosting two official visitors over the weekend when on Sunday night he boarded a plane destined for the east coast.

His first stop was in West Haven, Conn., for an in-home visit with 2026 priority recruit Abdou Toure (6-5 wing, Notre Dame High School, national Top 30, 4-star prospect).

Toure made two visits to Arkansas: a recent official visit (Sept. 12-14, 2025) that was preceded by an unofficial visit (October 2024).

Arkansas assistant Chuck Martin along with Calipari and other Hog staffers had been courtside for most of Toure's spring-and-summer grassroots and high school scholastic events.

More recently, Martin had been out to see Toure at Notre Dame high school in West Haven, Conn., at least once (Wednesday, Sept. 3, which as the first day of the NCAA's open recruiting period that runs through April 30, 2026).

Toure is an explosive wing with a big-motor, a playmaker in both open court and halfcourt, and a locked-in competitor who was the top high school player in Connecticut in 2024-25 (he was named his state's Gatorade Player of the Year, as was Andrews last season).

Toure averaged 25.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 2.3 steals per game while shooting 61.3% from the field, including a respectable 34.3% from 3, and 74.2% from the free throw line in '24-25. He was also honored with his second consecutive MaxPreps Connecticut Player of the Year award.

Toure starred on the Adidas 3SSB spring-and-summer grassroots circuit in 2025, averaging 15.4 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 2.6 "stocks" (steals and blocks as each averaged 1.3 in each of those two categories).

Playing for Guinea's junior national team in the 2024 FIBA U17 World Cup, averaging 23.0 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.1 blocks per game while shooting 57.4% from the field and 70.8% from the free throw line.

Calipari's Monday plan is to see twin towers in New York

We were the first to report on Monday morning that Calipari and his son, Arkansas assistant coach Brad Calipari, will be at Archbishop Stepinac in West Plains, N.Y., on Monday afternoon to see 2026 7-foot twins and national Top 100-ranked 4-star prospects Darius & Adonis Ratliff.

The Calipari's will be courtside for a scheduled 2:15 p.m. CT workout by the twins, according to a source.

It marks at least the fourth stop by Arkansas' coaching staff since early September to see the twins at Stepinac.

It's the first for the elder Calipari, second for his son.

Assistant coach Chuck Martin has been out twice recently (actually, three times counting an April 30 trip to Stepinac), while Hogs associate head coach Kenny Payne popped in last week.

A source told us the Ratliff twins are a recruiting "priority" for Arkansas, while another source told us to expect scholarship offers to be extended to the twins by the elder Calipari as soon as today.

Once the offers go out, the next step in their recruitment will be to set an upcoming official visit date to Arkansas.

Arkansas is not the only school to flock to Stepinac in recent weeks to see the Ratliffs. They took an official visit recently to Alabama.

Tide head coach Nate Oats, Pitt head coach Jeff Capel, and assistant coaches from Florida, Creighton, and Oklahoma State have also been out to see them in the past couple of weeks, too.

The frontline duo is versatile with the ability to shoot three-pointers as well as using dribble-drive craft to create shots in the mid-range, and of course they can finish above the rim at the basket.

Darius Ratliff is listed as a 7-foot, 215-pound center, and he is ranked as the No. 52 prospect in the nation according to ESPN.

Adonis Ratliff is also listed as a 7-foot, 215-pound center, and he is ranked as the No. 86 prospect in the nation according to ESPN.

Their father, Theo Ratliff, was a longtime NBA center who was an all pro.

Their sister, Yasmeen Ratliff, played for the Arkansas Razorbacks women's basketball team in the late 2010s.

Hogs assistant to check in on in-state target on Monday.

We first reported on Sunday that Arkansas assistant coach Chuck Martin will be at Benton High School on Monday to see 2028 Arkansas offer Anthony Spratt, Jr.

Spratt (6-6 wing) was offered a scholarship by Arkansas head coach John Calipari just over a month ago.

Spratt has been invited to Team USA junior national team camp (Oct. 9-13) in Colorado Springs, Colo.

As a high school freshman in 2024-25, Spratt was a key contributor to Benton's first ever state title (5A) in basketball.

He later starred for 15U Brad Beal Elite during spring-and-summer Nike E15 play.

In June during a scholastic event in Kansas City, Mo., Calipari was courtside to watch Spratt and Benton compete.

Spratt recently took an unofficial visit to Duke among other stops.

He plans to take an unofficial visit to Arkansas in the near future.

Arkansas' current on-campus prospect visit dates

• Aug. 29-31 was the recent visit date for Caleb Holt (6-5 guard, Prolific Prep, native of Huntsville, Ala., national No. 2, 5-star prospect)

• Sept. 5-7 was the recent visit date for Brandon McCoy, Jr. (6-5 guard, Sierra Canyon in Los Angeles, national Top 5, 5-star prospect)

• Sept. 12-14 was the recent visit date for Abdou Toure (6-5 wing, Notre Dame high school in West Haven, Conn., national No. 20, 5-star prospect)

• Sept. 17-18 was the recent visit date for Tay Kinney (6-2 guard, Overtime Elite, native of Newport, Ky., national No. 12, 5-star prospect)

• Sept. 19-21 was the recent visit date for Arafan Diane (7-0 center, Iowa United Prep, native of Guinea, national No. 6, 5-star prospect)

• Sept. 19-21 was the recent visit date for Jordan Smith, Jr. (6-2 combo guard, Fairfax, Va., national No. 2, 5-star prospect)

• Oct. 3-5 Cole Cloer (6-7 small forward / wing, native of Hillsborough, N.C., national Top 25 prospect)

• Oct. 24-26 (may be tentative) Baba Oladotun (6-10 combo forward, Silver Springs, Md., national Top 10, 5-star prospect)

• Dates TBA (confirmed already finalized) Chase Foster (6-8 forward, Baltimore, Md., national No. 38, 4-star prospect)

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Kevin McPherson
KEVIN MCPHERSON

Analyst, reporter, and columnist for nearly 40 years in Arkansas, he has covered everything Arkansas basketball and recruiting (football, too). His primary focus has been the Razorbacks. His articles, columns, daily podcasts, and weekly television and radio segments drill down on the Razorbacks and more!

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