Calipari Sounded Like Just Trying to Manage Razorbacks Past This Week

At this point, no one really should be expecting big news from Arkansas coach John Calipari on Tuesday.

Since he doesn't know who he'll be playing Friday, there wasn't any scouting report. That left the first question, of course, was for a reaction to freshman Darius Acuff Jr., being named SEC Player of the Year on Monday.

His answer wasn't exactly headline material.

"Getting the Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year in this league, really difficult," Calipari said. "It's only happened a few times in the history of the whole league."

The bigger question is how Acuff is responding to some extended time off to heal and ankle that had been bothering him. Calipari more or less insisted it was going to happen for the finale against Missouri.

Add AP SEC Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year, and 1st Team All-SEC to the list for Darius. That’s Coach Calipari’s 13th POY and 21st FOY. #AcuffPOY 🔥 pic.twitter.com/snPXwKZBaq
— Arkansas Razorbacks Men’s Basketball 🐗 (@RazorbackMBB) March 10, 2026

He had tried to do it the first time the two teams met on Feb. 21. Acuff talked him out of it by being insistent.

"I heard him but he had no chance," Calipari said about the player who has taken home just about every SEC individual honor this year talking him into getting on the floor. "He wasn't going to over-rule me on this one."

The break has helped the ankle. Even though he's probably not 100% healthy for this one, he's closer than he would have been without the extra wear and tear on it. Acuff isn't going to be on the practice floor for the entire time, either.

It worked out well against Missouri on Saturday in an 88-84 win on the road. It probably helped Calipari and the staff find out something else about this team headed into tournament season.

"We played with unbelievable energy," Calipari said and related a conversation with Acuff about it. "I said, 'why do you think that was?' He says, 'I don't know. I said, maybe because you weren't in there.'"

Darius became the third player ever to win SEC Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year in the same season, the second under Coach Calipari. 👏

Here are 14 minutes of most of his scoring plays and assists in SEC play this season in chronological order. 📺 #AcuffPOY pic.twitter.com/41EmqeCA21
— Arkansas Razorbacks Men’s Basketball 🐗 (@RazorbackMBB) March 9, 2026

That's part of Calipari's coaching his best players harder than the ones at the end of the bench. The guys we have to scramble for a program to see who went in a few times aren't the ones getting fussed at much in practices.

The guess here is he's turning up that intensity now for a very simple reason.

"Coaching him, telling him I'm not satisfied, you got more in the tank," Calipari said about working with Acuff in workouts. "Got a couple other guys that did individual work with them. Same idea. I'm not giving up on you.

"We're doing this in a 20-minute session. Conditioning and some other stuff. Guys were spent, I'm like dudes, it's March! You gotta be able to push through this stuff."

That's his whole focus. Fans often put too much detail into games in November that are, in reality, nothing more than practice games. Calipari's teams spend everything up to the end of the season developing for a March run.

That's really the only games that matter. Everything to that point is simply setting the table for March Madness.

The Razorbacks don't have to win the SEC Tournament to get into the NCAA. Last year they probaby needed to win at least one and did all the way to the Sweet 16.

Different year, different story.

The Hogs are solidly in the tournament this year. Calipari's just tweaking the lineup and getting his best players on the floor as quicky as possible.

A win at this point would just be a bonus. But he's probably not going to risk Acuff for that trophy.

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