What To Know About Arkansas Basketball's Primetime At The Palace

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas will host its second annual Primetime at the Palace event on Friday evening inside Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.

The preseason event will see both the Arkansas men and women's basketball teams be introduced, with a dunk contest, three-point shooting contest, drills and a men's scrimmage to follow. The event begins at 8 p.m. with doors opening at 7.

"I want this to be about our students and our fans," men's basketball head coach John Calipari said Wednesday. "I hear everywhere about fans not being able to get to our games. This doesn't cost you anything. We've given out more tickets than we have... since my time here by about 5,000, but we still have a couple thousand left.

"What I did a year ago, I plan on doing again, which is, we stay an extra hour and sign autographs or [take] pictures, and each player has a manager so everything moves, and you get to roll around. It may be your only chance to ever be in-person with one of these kids."

Calipari said that he's excited about the event, though he gets excited for "every practice" he walks into.

"We [got] a great group of players who want to be coached, who are okay with being challenged," Calipari said.

The Razorback men's squad will play Gonzaga (Oct. 24) and Memphis (Oct. 28) in a pair of exhibition games inside Bud Walton Arena before opening the season with Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Nov. 3. Kelsi Musick's team, meanwhile, will have an Oct. 29 exhibition in Fayetteville against Musick's alma mater in Cameron before opening the 2026-27 campaign against New Orleans on Nov. 2.

Other notes on Primetime at the Palace

Perhaps the most notable piece of news regarding Friday's event is that Furman transfer big man Cooper Bowser will not participate with a hand injury. Calipari said Wednesday he expected Bowser to be out for "another 10 days."

"The dunk contest should be slightly different," Calipari said, "And the three point stuff should be pretty neat. We'll do some shooting where they can see the kids making shots."

The Razorbacks scrimmaged on Wednesday shortly before Calipari spoke to reporters.

"We got to get our pick and roll defense — what's the word above stinks?," Calipari inquired. "Whatever that word is, that's where we about are."

That's to be expected of a young team that's still a month out from the start of the season. Still, excitement and expectations are sky-high for Calipari's team, and Musick's squad has plenty of fresh faces for fans to get excited about, too.

Fans will get their first look at both teams on Friday in what should be a fun environment inside the Basketball Palace of Mid-America.

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