NBA Draft: Arkansas Guards Shine in Blowout Win

Arkansas head coach John Calipari has a history of sending guards to the NBA Draft, and it seems this season will be no different.

While most have donned Kentucky blue, the newest wave of Calipari guards will be wearing cardinal red. Both Darius Acuff Jr., as well as Meleek Thomas, are trending toward being first-round picks at the 2026 NBA Draft.

Acuff has been not just the standout for Arkansas this season, but one of the standouts across the country, period. The 6-foot-3 guard wasn’t on lottery radars prior to the season starting, but has been as productive as true freshmen come through non-conference play.

Thomas, a fellow five-star, has a few more holes in his draft case, though he has plenty of tools that could make him a solid professional worth betting on.

Monday’s final non-conference bout with James Madison saw both Razorback guards in positive light.

In Arkansas’s 103-74 takedown of a solid JMU squad, Acuff stayed to form with 17 points on 7-for-12 shooting, adding six assists to just one turnover. Thomas starred, scoring a blistering season-high of 28 points on 50% shooing off the bench.

Arkansas freshman Meleek Thomas comes off the bench and puts up career-high 🔥

28 PTS | 8-16 FG | 6-10 3PT | 27 MINS pic.twitter.com/Zl3H9AASBx
— B/R Hoops (@brhoops) December 30, 2025

Acuff’s solid night actually brought his season averages down, as he went for nearly 19 points and over six assists through the first 12 games. He’s shown unbelievable poise in handling the ball for Arkansas, helping to take down teams such as Louisville and Texas Tech, and play closely with Duke, Michigan State and Houston.

Thomas, a 6-foot-5 combo guard, has seen solid averages of 14.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.4 steals, though his splits of 37% from the field and 33% from three leave some to be desired. Still, his potential ability to score at all three levels, play-make and provide solid defense have left scouts impressed.

There will be questions about Acuff's translatability due to his size, and the real-ness of his 44% 3-point mark presently. Though it seems teams will be hard-pressed to let him slip past the middle of the first round if his output holds true all season.

Thomas is graded as a late-first rounder for many right now, though a solid conference stretch would do wonders for his stock.

The Razorbacks are set to take on No. 19 Tennessee, No. 23 Georgia, No. 11 Vanderbilt, No. 14 Alabama and No. 22 Florida in SEC play in the coming months, almost all of which have 2026 draft hopefuls of their own.