On Monday, Arkansas forward Trevon Brazile declared for the 2024 NBA Draft. He spent two seasons with the Razorbacks.
“Arkansas made a big hire with John Calipari,” Brazile told ESPN. “I’m happy for the program, but am going out for my dreams. I’m all the way, 100% in the NBA Draft.”
This past season, Brazile made 24 appearances and 21 starts. The 6-foot-10 forward averaged 6.6 points and 5.1 rebounds per game while shooting 53.4% from the field and 33.3% from beyond the arc.
Brazile wasn’t the only Razorback who performed under par this season. Arkansas finished the 2023-24 campaign with a 16-17 overall record and 6-12 mark in conference play.
In his debut season at Arkansas, Brazile averaged career-highs of 11.8 points and 6.0 rebounds per contest. Brazile began his career at Missouri, where he spent one year and averaged 6.6 points and 5.1 boards a night.
Trevon Brazile played high school basketball at Parkview (MO), where he was an unranked prospect in the 2021 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.
In ESPN’s Jonathan Givony’s latest NBA mock draft, Brazile was projected to be the No. 42 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. Boasting extreme length at only 21 years old, Brazile has massive upside. He will not stick around with new Arkansas head coach John Calipari to build on that potential.
Arkansas hiring John Calipari as next head coach
On Sunday, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported the program is signing Kentucky’s John Calipari to a five-year deal to be the Razorbacks’ next head coach.
Calipari is coming off a disappointing postseason. Kentucky fell in its opening matchup against Texas A&M in the SEC Tournament. The team’s nightmare scenario only worsened when it lost to No. 14 seed Oakland in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Kentucky has only won one game in the Big Dance in the past five seasons. Despite Calipari’s recent struggles, he boasts a stunning résumé. In Calipari’s 15 seasons at the helm of Kentucky, he has a 410-122 record, three Final Four appearances in 2011, 2014 and 2015 and a national title in 2012.
Kentucky allegedly considered parting ways with John Calipari this offseason. However, the 65-year-old head coach possesses a massive $33 million buyout, the largest in the country. Now, per KSR’s Matt Jones, neither Kentucky nor Arkansas will have to pay the hall-of-fame head coach’s buyout fee.
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