Calipari hits DMV before shifting south on Razorbacks' first recruiting day

Staff out to see priority recruits who already have Arkansas visits scheduled but have to make stop before heading to Florida

Arkansas Razorbacks coach John Calipari on the sidelines during game with the LSU Tigers at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark. | Nilsen Roman-Hogs on SI Images

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas coach John Calipari and associate head coach Chin Coleman hit the DMV early on Wednesday, which was the first day that Division 1 coaches could hit the road to see recruits.

No, they didn't stop by the department of motor vehicles before their road trip. Their first stop was in DMV, a.k.a. as the tri-connected Washington D.C., Maryland, Virginia metro area.

Two priority 2026 5-star recruiting targets, Jordan Smith, Jr. (6-2 guard, Fairfax, Va., national No. 2, 5-star prospect) and Baba Oladotun (6-10 combo forward, Silver Springs, Md., national Top 10, 5-star prospect), received visits from Calipari and Coleman on Wednesday.

Not coincidentally, both players have upcoming official visits scheduled to Arkansas. 

Smith's is slated for the weekend of Sept. 19-21, and that's been known for a while. As for Oladotun, we reported on Wednesday that he's planning to visit Arkansas the weekend of Oct. 24-26. 

Calipari arrived in Bradenton, Fla., on Wednesday night for a planned stop at IMG Academy to see two 2026 priority Arkansas targets and national Top 50 prospects Cole Cloer (6-7 wing) and Chase Foster (6-8 forward). 

Both have official visits scheduled to Arkansas. Cloer is set for the weekend of Oct. 3-5. Foster has his finalized, but it has not yet been publicly announced. 

Not too far from Bradenton is Ft. Lauderdale, Fla, which is where Prolific Prep is located, and that's where you will find 2026 priority Razorbacks target Caleb Holt.

Holt (6-5 guard, Huntsville, Ala., native, national No. 2, 5-star prospect) just took an OV to Arkansas last weekend (Aug. 29-31). 

We're still sorting out who if anybody among the Florida priority recruits got a Wednesday night visit from Calipari, or if those will take place early today (Thursday, Sept. 4).

At some point on Thursday, Calipari is planning to stop in at Overtime Elite in Atlanta to see 2026 priority Hog recruit Tay Kinney (6-2 guard, Newport, Ky., native, national No. 12, 5-star prospect). Not coincidentally, Kinney has an official visit to Arkansas scheduled for the weekend of Sept. 26-28.

Razorbacks coach John Calipari at practice at the Eddie Sutton Practice Center in Fayetteville, Ark. | Andy Hodges-Hogs on SI Images

More priority Arkansas recruits the staff plans to see

Arkansas also plans to drop in soon to see 2026 priority recruit Arafan Diane (7-1 forward-center, Iowa United Prep, national Top 10, 5-star prospect).

Diane's guardian, Alex Victor, on Tuesday told us that the Razorbacks coaching staff currently has plans to travel to Iowa United Prep to See Diane on "either Sunday (Sept. 7) or Monday (Sept. 8)."

Arkansas assistant coach Chuck Martin was traveling further north on the east coast on Wednesday to see 2026 priority Razorbacks recruit Abdou Toure (6-5 wing, Notre Dame high school in West Haven, Conn., national No. 23, 5-star prospect).

Toure took an unofficial visit to Arkansas in October 2024 and he has an official visit set to return to Arkansas, but he has not made those visit dates public yet.

Martin also stopped by Arch Bishop Stepinac in West Plains, NY, on Wednesday to check on 2026 4-star 7-foot twins Darius and Adonis Ratliff, the sons of former NBA all pro Theo Ratliff. As of now, the Ratliffs do not hold Arkansas scholarship offers and they do not have visits planned to Arkansas.

The current recruiting period runs through April 30, 2026, with only a few days sprinkled in that will count as "dead periods" (a.k.a. on- or off-campus visits or in-person contacts).

A combination of multiple sources told us to look for Calipari to also make stops soon to see 2026 Arkansas commitment and 5-star prospect JaShawn "JJ" Andrews (6-6 wing, Little Rock Christian Academy) as well as 2026 priority Hog target and 5-star prospect Brandon McCoy, Jr. (6-5 guard, Sierra Canyon in Los Angeles, Calif.).

We reported earlier on Thursday that McCoy has an official visit set to Arkansas for this weekend (Sept. 5-7), although McCoy has not publicly announced it. 

As a reminder, visit plans, whether that's coaches going on the road or prospects coming in for official or unofficial on-campus visits, are subject to change and frequently do change.

Here's what Arkansas' current on-campus prospect-visit-dates list looks like:

• 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 Brandon McCoy, Jr. (6-5 guard, Sierra Canyon in Los Angeles, national Top 5, 5-star prospect) 

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

• Sept. 19-21 Jordan Smith, Jr. (6-2 combo guard, Fairfax, Va., national No. 2, 5-star prospect)

• Sept. 26-28 Tay Kinney (6-2 guard, Overtime Elite, native of Newport, Ky., national No. 12, 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) Abdou Toure (6-6 wing, Notre Dame high school in West Haven, Conn., national No. 20, 5-star prospect)

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