Calipari: Hogs Learned About Themselves in the Bahamas

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas head coach John Calipari patted his son Brad on the back and gave him a kiss on the head after Arkansas' 105-48 win over the University of Calgary that capped a 4-0 foreign tour in the Bahamas for the Razorbacks.

"Good job, kid," the Hall of Famer said.

Brad Calipari, along with fellow assistant coaches Kenny Payne, Chin Coleman and Bruiser Flint each served as head coach for one of Arkansas' four games in the Baha Mar summer league as John Calipari watched from the bleachers.

All in all, Arkansas' trip to Nassau was a learning experience for coaches, players and fans as the countdown to the regular season begins for a Razorback squad that could be one of the best in school history.

"Great team building," John Calipari said. "We learned about our team, they learned about each other. One thing I learned: we got really good guys."

If that wasn't evident by Arkansas' three previous runaway victories, it was certainly evident on Tuesday. The Razorbacks blitzed the Calgary Dinos en route to a 105-48 victory in a game that was close for 10 minutes before the Hogs pulled away.

"We got some guys that are in growth mode, and I have to be patient," John Calipari said. "And I'm not very patient, but I gotta be patient. They're young, they're 17, 18. Average age of the team is 18 [years] and nine months. "

94 feet of Davion Thompson in his bag 💼 pic.twitter.com/RsRChTdqfv
— Arkansas Men’s Basketball 🐗 (@RazorbackMBB) August 4, 2026

About the only negative in Tuesday's game was an ankle injury suffered by freshman guard Jordan Smith Jr., who went down in the first half but was helped back to bench, kept his sneakers on and was seen smiling throughout the second half. Despite only seeing the floor for 14 minutes, Smith scored 13 points on 5-6 shooting from the field.

"He turned his ankle a little bit, and I just said stay out," John Calipari said.

Smith was the engine of Arkansas' offense in their first three exhibitions, but it was JJ Andrews who caught fire on Tuesday. The freshman from Little Rock scored a game-high 24 points on 10-13 shooting, including a 3-4 mark from beyond the arc.

Bounce different. pic.twitter.com/fP5yqYrYXK
— Arkansas Men’s Basketball 🐗 (@RazorbackMBB) August 4, 2026

"I loved JJ getting more comfortable," John Calipari said. "He wasn't comfortable early on. Now you see he's more comfortable, and you can see it."

Abdou Toure (20 points) and Caleb Ourigou (10 points) were the other two Razorbacks to score in double figures. John Calipari called Toure Arkansas' "X-factor" and added that its big men need to step up.

"Our bigs, Cooper, Caleb and the others, gotta get a couple of them to step up in who they are," John Calipari said.

Tuesday marked the second consecutive start for Ourigou, who went 5-11 from the field against Calgary but pulled down a whopping 16 rebounds and blocked two shots.

With roughly two-and-a-half months before Arkansas begins playing more exhibitions games and three months until the regular season begins, Calipari and the Razorbacks will have plenty of time to continue to learn about each other moving forward.

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