Calipari 'Wouldn't Be Surprised' If Young Hogs Get Beat by Bahamas National Team

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The first unofficial test for a young Arkansas men's basketball team this season will happen over 1,200 miles from Fayetteville.

Friday's exhibition for head coach John Calipari and Arkansas against the Bahamas National Team in Nassau will be the first chance fans have to see Calipari's third Arkansas roster play against a team other than themselves.

"My expectation for today: the Bahama National Team is not the team that Louisville played," Calipari said Friday on the Chuck and Bo Show. "It should be interesting.

"I'm anxious to see, one, if we can be as good defensively as I think we could be, if we'll really play for each other which is all we've been doing in practice. Just create for each other and play that way. Pass sometimes just to pass."

"I wouldn't be surprised if we got beat. When I talk about the Bahamas National Team, they may have a 30-year-old on there. It's their national team. It's not the guy that, when you left the plane, grabbed your bags and now he's playing that night against you. That's not what it is.

"But we'll see. Let the kids go out there and have some fun and see where we are. This is where you have a ball competing, have a ball defending, take great pride in it, and let's just see where we are."

Contrasting the experience of a country's national team is Arkansas' youth and inexperience. Friday's contest will be the first collegiate game for seven of Arkansas' eight freshmen (Miikka Murrinen will not play due to his eligibility not yet being approved by the NCAA).

The foreign tour will give those freshmen the opportunity to see the floor against live competition before the real season starts this fall, but don't be surprised if the typical Calipari growing pains are slightly exacerbated.

Arkansas Razorbacks coach John Calipari takes to a referee against the Arizona Wildcats in the first half during a Sweet Sixteen game of the West Regional of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at SAP Center. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

"If you have watched my teams the last two years... early in the season we're ugly, we start getting better, and then you hit stride in January and February and you start saying, 'Okay, let's see what we can do.' This will be no different," Calipari said. "Right now, the only player playing that played last year [is] Billy Richmond. That's it. All new guys.

"Most of the guys are young. Our old guys are 20 years old. The guys are calling them "unc." 'C'mon, unc', like he's your uncle. But he's 20, you're 18, you're 19. We're really young."

Tip-off between Arkansas and the Bahamas National Team is set for 6 p.m. CT, with coverage on FloSports.

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