FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — New Arkansas coach John Calipari finds himself in an interesting predicament. He doesn’t have any players on his roster. No, Eric Musselman left the cupboard bare of any current returning talent.
Today, the final two pieces of Arkansas’ roster left school orannounced their desire to look for greener pastures. Calipari has an opportunity to build his roster from the bottom up with 13 scholarships in his pocket to use.
It’s plausible that Arkansas’ new coach can use a few of them to flip current Kentucky signees. Of course, the NCAA allows incoming freshmen a release from their letter of intent if a coaching change has been made. There has been plenty of movement since Calipari’s move to Razorback nation was made known Sunday. There’s a strong possibility a few members of his No. 2 ranked signing class joins him in Fayetteville.
Word of Karter Knox reopening his recruitment was starting to creep out early Monday morning.The Tampa Bay Times reported that the No. 19 overall player in the 2024 class would look elsewhere nearly a month after committing to the Wildcats.
A move to Arkansas wouldn’t come too far out of left field since Knox was considering the Razorbacks early on in his recruitment. He didn’t visit Fayetteville but the school was in his top eight before trimming it down to four schools. The 6-foot-5, 225 pound forward committed to the Wildcats due to Calipari’s track record of putting players in the NBA.
Knox plays for Overtime Elite and has averaged 23 points, six rebounds, three assists and one steal per game. The McDonald’s All-American shot 44% from the floor and 34% from three this season but 63% from the line, which should improve with more emphasis in college.
Before committing to Kentucky, his other school of choice was South Florida. The Tampa Bay native’s brother, Kobe, currently plays for the Bulls, helping first year coach Amir Abdur-Rahim to a 25-8 record.
