Calipari’s Hogs trending up in early polls, rankings

John Calipari still has work to do to finalize his first roster at Arkansas, but the Razorbacks are already trending upwards in early polls and rankings.

After starting with an entirely blank slate that featured zero returning scholarship pieces, Calipari has made seven impact additions that has thrust the Hogs up the pecking order of the recruiting rankings.

The three-man incoming freshman haul of five-stars in Boogie Fland, Karter Knox and Billy Richmond ranks No. 6 nationally, according to 247Sports, but second overall behind only Duke with an average recruit ranking of 99.25.

Arkansas’ freshman signing class comes in at No. 2 in the On3 Industry Rankings, which features a compilation average of the major recruiting services that also includes 247Sports, Rivals and ESPN.

The Razorbacks remain in the hunt for international talents and projected 2025 NBA Draft picks Egor Demin (Russia) and Nolan Taore (France).

Calipari’s transfer haul currently features a pair of his former Kentucky players in Zvonimir Ivisic and Adou Thiero as well as coveted portal prospects in Johnell Davis (FAU) and Jonas Aidoo (Tennessee).

The experienced quartet has the highest average player rating (93.25) in the country at On3.com and ranks as the nation’s top transfer portal class at 247Sports.

Among the names Arkansas remains actively engaged with in the portal are former Kentucky guard DJ Wagner and versatile Illinois forward Coleman Hawkins.

Despite only having seven scholarship players on the roster, Calipari’s collection of talent has caught the attention of many way-too-early pollsters in the national media.

Here is a look at where the Hoop Hogs stand in several reputable early projections:

• Aaron Torres: No. 12
• John Rothstein: No. 13
• Jeff Borzello: No. 19
• Gary Parrish: No. 23

Joe Lunardi’s most recent offseason bracketology update shows Arkansas as a projected 7-seed with a first round matchup against Pitt.

While college basketball polls and brackets released in May should obviously be taken with a healthy grain of salt, the early love does serve as a measure of validation to the work Calipari has done so far.

The first-year head coach has remained bullish in his remarks when it comes to limiting his scholarship roster to 8-9 players, which would mean Arkansas is only a piece or two away from essentially being a finished product with summer workouts on the horizon.