Razorbacks add another visitor for busy basketball weekend to start

Hogs' Calipari looks to gain inroads with nearby recruit from Show Me State

Arkansas Razorbacks coach John Calipari yells from the sidlines against the LSU Tigers at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark. | Nilsen Roman-HitThatLine.com

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.— The Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball team unofficially begins its much anticipated second season under John Calipari Friday night with another recruit expected in town.

Link Prep Academy 5-star junior point guard Davion Thompson will be in attendance for an unofficial visit as the Razorbacks welcome Cincinnati to town for the 2025 CareSource Invitational.

NEWS: 2027 4⭐️ Davion Thompson is in on an unofficial visit at Arkansas today, source tells @LeagueRDY.

The 6-foot-3 guard out of Bolingbrook, Illinois is set to play his junior season of high school for @LinkHoops.

#23 overall in the @SCNext 60. pic.twitter.com/LMA0s32YC3

— Sam Kayser (@KayserHoops) October 24, 2025

The 6-foot-2, 170 pound prospect has fielded 11 total offers at this point in his recruitment coming from the likes of DePaul, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio State, Oregon, Oklahoma, Tennessee and many others.

Thompson is currently ranked as the No. 17 overall player in the 2027 class, No. 3 among point guards and the No. 1 athlete in Missouri, according to 247sports.

Before making his way to one of the premier prep schools in the country, Thompson spent time at Bolingbrook High School near Chicago where he was named Chicago Sun Times Hoops Report Player of the Year, averaging over 24 points per game as a sophomore.

It's still quite a bit early in the recruiting process for players in the 2027 class, but that hasn't stopped Calipari from extending offers to various juniors across the country.

The Razorbacks have already extended an offer to 4-star point guard Beckham Black, who is the younger brother of former Arkansas one-and-done star Anthony.

Arkansas Razorbacks coach John Calipari against the Texas Longhorns at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark. | Nilsen Roman-HitThatLine.com

Calipari's staff have also extended offers to a pair of Orlando, Florida 5-star big men such as power forward CJ Rosser and center Obinna Ezekie, Jr.

Arkansas is also hosting 5-star small forward Baba Oladotun, who was the No. 1 overall prospect in the 2027 class, but opted to reclassify and become a member of the 2026 recruiting class in August.

He is now ranked No. 10 in the nation, which is a testament to his development over the past few months according to 247sports.

The immediate future of Arkansas' program continues to be in good hands when it comes to star freshmen with commitments from a pair of 2026 prospects in 5-star shooting guard JJ Andrews of Little Rock and 4-star small forward Abdou Toure of West Haven, Connecticut.

The combination Andrews and Toure slots Arkansas' 2026 class as the No. 6 ranked class among the SEC and No. 14 nationally, according to 247sports composite team rankings.

Arkansas' second-year coach is focused on the continual development of coaches while helping them live their dreams out by receiving a NBA contract.

"I want to help 25 to 30 more families," Calipari said Tuesday at the Southeastern Conference's basketball media days event. "The only way you do that is to be transformational as a coach. If you're not, you're transactional. If I become transactional, 'I'm going to pay you this to do this and that' — then I won't do this anymore. I don't need to."

The Razorbacks started the season with an exhibition opener Friday night against a Cincinnati Bearcats beam at Bud Walton Arena in front of big crowd. The expectations are big, even for a game that won't count in the standings.