Calipari Promised to Field More Experience, SEC Beat Him to It

Razorbacks still lacking veterans compared to rest of the conference and 0-5 league start is result
Arkansas Razorbacks Adou Thiero follows DJ Wagner up the floor in a loss to the Florida Gators at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark.
Arkansas Razorbacks Adou Thiero follows DJ Wagner up the floor in a loss to the Florida Gators at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark. / Nilsen Roman-Hogs on SI Images
In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas coach John Calipari was clear in the offseason something had to change. He had to bring in more experienced players. Jonas Aidoo transferred from Tennessee. Johnell Davis transferred in from FAU.

"I knew you have trouble when the kids [who] we’re playing against a team and the guy is waving to his two kids in the stands," Calipari said in the preseason. "You’re just saying, ‘This got a little old now, what are we doing here?’ So, to say you’re going to do it with 18-19 year olds 24 and 25 year olds, you got to make that adjustment."

Part of the problem is Johnell Davis' demotion out of the starting lineup. He was supposed to be the team's bona-fide leader. He came into the season with 124 games played and 55 starts, 30 more games than anyone else on the team.

However, even with Davis' additional experience, Arkansas is a far cry from the raw number of games of college basketball that the top tier of SEC teams have played.

The top three SEC teams that Arkansas has faced so far all have three players who have played at least 95 games and started at least 50 before the start of the season. Tennessee has Zakai Ziegler, Chaz Lanier and Jamai Mashack. Ole Miss has Sean Pedulla, Matt Murrell and Dre Davis. Florida has Will Richard, Walter Clayton Jr. and Alijah Martin.

Johnell Davis is the only player on Arkansas' roster that fits that criteria. He was limited to just 19 minutes in Arkansas' 83-65 loss against Missouri and has only started 11 of the 18 games this year.

On the flip side, Arkansas is also the only team in the SEC to start two true freshmen in its starting lineup consistently. Arkansas has 164 total games of experience before the season between Boogie Fland, Adou Thiero, DJ Wagner, Karter Knox and Aidoo. Compare that to Tennessee's 454 or Ole Miss' 466.

LSU is the only other team to start two freshmen, thanks to Curtis Givens being inserted into the lineup the game prior to playing Arkansas.

No matter how it's broken down, Calipari's team is still far too inexperienced to compete in the SEC and despite his best efforts to bring in veteran players, it's still partly to blame for the team's disasterous 0-5 start in the SEC. Starting multiple freshmen in top-level college basketball just isn't common anymore, and going against the grain, unless masked with generational talent, is a recipe for collapse.

"When your best player is 18 years old and his name isn't [Duke superstar and projected No. 1 pick] Cooper Flagg you're gonna struggle," Field of 68's Randolph Childress said. "That's just the reality."

Calipari promised to get older and more veteran experience. He just didn't do it enough.

Arkansas takes on a Georgia team that has nearly 250 games of experience in its starting lineup, despite starting true freshman Asa Newell. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. Wednesday and will be broadcast on SEC Network.

HOGS FEED:

Early rankings for 2025 could lay very tough path for Razorbacks

• Former Razorback great assesses program in one sentence

• What Green Must Do to Become Petrino's Next NFL Quarterback

• Arkansas quickly plummeting towards bottom of SEC in NET rankings

• Higginbottom shows mortality; Alabama blows out Arkansas

• Subscribe and follow us on YouTube
• Follow HogsSI on X and Facebook


Published |Modified