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Arkansas may be losing their star point guard but coach John Calipari may have his replacement headed to town.
Landing point guard Darius Acuff could be better. Especially if he can stay healthier longer than Boogie Fland, who suffered a hand injury requiring surgery.
As good as the Razorbacks played with him out the only way it could have been better was get to the Elite Eight and Final Four. That's a hypothetical not worth debating now.
Arkansas signee Darius Acuff was named the Allen Iverson National High School Player of the Year. #wps pic.twitter.com/ashlQXcKio
— JC Hoops (@JacksonCollier) May 8, 2025
With the final recruiting rankings from 247Sports released there were some surprises for Hogs' fans. Pleasant ones for a change, too.
This class ranked No. 5 overall and first in the SEC in high school recruits, led by the country's highest-rated point guard in Darius Acuff. He was the No. 5 player in the country.
In the player rankings, Acuff is the third-highest Arkansas recruit since they started keeping up with all this stuff. He's behind Nick Smith and Al Jefferson, both of whom didn't contribute much in Fayetteville.
Smith a couple of years ago played very little with a mysterious injury and bailed to the NBA. Jefferson committed to the Razorbacks, but chose the straight path to pro ball.
5⭐️ Arkansas signee Darius Acuff Jr. has an old-school swagger and a crazy skillset (@DariusAcuff)
— GREENLIGHT MEDIA (@greenlightbball) April 26, 2025
Plays at his own pace, super crafty, strong around the rim, and an elite playmaker.
Avg’d 23.7PTS, 3.2REB & 5.9AST per game for @IMGABasketball this past season. pic.twitter.com/oE4lwAxCtf
Acuff will be with Calipari for a year and that was probably the expectation when they recruited him. Hopefully he can avoid injuries and actually do big things on the floor for fans.
Fland quickly became a fan favorite and is in the transfer port, expected to go the NBA. With the signing of Acuff and Fland's backup, Karter Knox, finding out his draft prospects but keeping the door open with the Hogs, is expected to be back.
Along with some notable portal transfers coming in, Calipari is projecting a roster that's a little deeper this year. At times, due to injuries, the Razorbacks were down nearly alarm-type numbers at times. The biggest positive out of all that was nobody complaining about playing time.
With Trevin Brazile coming back (again) this may be the deepes, most experienced Arkansas team with talent we've seen in awhile. Adding immediate impact youngsters like Acuff just makes the prospects even brighter.
Ranking ahead of Arkansas final standings, in order, are Houston, Arizona, Duke and Notre Dame. Fans would probably be okay with that every year. It's why everyone is on the wagon and the basketball program starting to get back where fans have wanted for 30 years since they won the national title.
BIG congrats to Arkansas signees Darius Acuff + Meleek Thomas who earned a TON of respect in 247's final rankings
— TorresOnArkansas (@TorresOnTheHogs) May 7, 2025
* Darius Acuff - No. 5 player nationally
* Meleek Thomas - No. 13 player nationally
CANNOT wait to see these guys at BWA next season pic.twitter.com/lTZEH47RNU
Acuff, Meleek Thomas, Isaiah Sealy and Kareem Rtail are all freshmen being added to the mix with three confirmed returners in Brazile, Billy Richmond and DJ Wagner. Malique Ewin and Nick Pringle are highly-rated transfers. If Knox comes back the roster will be deep and experienced.
The combination of Acuff and Thomas in the backcourt, though, seems to be what most national analysts are getting excited about. Both have had impressive outings in the high school All-Star games.
All of this is what Arkansas fans expected with Calipari. Now they just want to get past the Sweet 16.
HOGS FEED:
More must-reads:
- How could Bruce Pearl's sudden retirement impact Auburn's Final Four chances?
- 'MNF' takeaways: Lions notch statement road win over Ravens
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TODAY'S BEST
Maple Leafs make six roster cuts with two notable surprises
The Toronto Maple Leafs have already begun their training camp prior to the start of the 2025-26 NHL season. Although no further trade moves have been announced, the Leafs have made changes to their roster and have officially sent back six prospects to their junior teams. Specifically, the players leaving camp are as follows. Two surprising moves by the Maple Leafs Perhaps the most surprising cases are those of Tyler Hopkins and Matthew Hlacar. Hopkins, 18, even received the opportunity to be promoted to Group 2 at camp recently, where he shared the ice with top prospects like Easton Cowan, plus John Tavares and William Nylander. On the other hand, Hlacar, 19, was also one of the forwards who performed best during the rookie camp, following a season of seven goals and one assist for eight points in 43 games in the OHL with the Kitchener Rangers. That said, although it is surprising due to their performances, it also makes sense considering that the OHL season began this weekend. If they were not going to be considered sufficiently by Craig Berube, the best thing for these players is to get into rhythm with their junior teams and continue preparing to make the jump to the highest level in the coming years. The two prospects were drafted just this year. Hopkins was selected 86th overall by Toronto, while Hlacar was drafted by the Leafs in the seventh round. Both hope to break into the main roster sooner rather than later.
Steelers' Once Promising Third-Year Defender Could Be Relegated On The Depth Chart
The Pittsburgh Steelers have begun the 2025 NFL season with a 2-1 record, however there are some things that need to be figured out. The defense is shaky at best despite forcing five turnovers in Sunday's win over the New England Patriots in Week 3. The group still struggles to get off of the field on possession downs, and stopping the run has been an issue throughout the first three weeks of the season. A lot of that starts with the front seven and the interior defensive line. Pittsburgh has been banged up in that area, but some healthy contributors returning could shake up the lineup. Pittsburgh was able to see the regular season debut of Derrick Harmon on Sunday. The organization selected Harmon in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft, but he suffered a sprained MCL in the preseason finale which kept him on the sidelines throughout the first two weeks of the regular season. He made an impact while serving in a limited role on Sunday against New England as he recorded a sack and two total tackles, and he is expected to help the run defense in the near future. Team insider Mark Kaboly spoke about the interior defensive line after the game on Sunday on the most recent episode of Kaboly + Mack, and he believes there will be two rookies starting in that area very soon. "They made some moves there, and it was able to help them out," Kaboly said. "That's a definite difference in what they were able to do. And I think it's just a matter of time until Yahya Black, Derrick Harmon and Cam Heyward's your one, two and three across the front. It's just a matter of time." Currently, Cam Heyward and Yahya Black are the starting defensive tackles for Pittsburgh while Keeanu Benton has been the starting nose tackle. That is the part of the lineup that will be shuffled, as Benton will likely switch to being a rotational piece, while Harmon enters the starting lineup. He will likely takeover the duties at defensive tackle, while Black shuffles to nose tackle. Benton was expected to take a leap forward going into his second season in 2024, but that didn't necessarily happen. He has made some big plays for Pittsburgh, but he has not been the consistent force that the organization had hoped he would be to this point. There was hope he would improve once again during the 2025 season, but if anything, the third-year pro has shown some regression since his rookie season. Moving to a rotational role where he can fill in at both defensive tackle and nose tackle might be best for Benton at this point. He doesn't necessarily have the size to be a true nose tackle in the NFL, so the coaching staff in Pittsburgh has seemingly been setting him up for failure a little bit in that regard. He would likely play better at defensive tackle, which is something the coaching staff could find out if the starting defensive line gets shuffled. Steelers Need To See Keeanu Benton Step Up No matter what role he is serving, Benton needs to play better moving forward. The interior defensive line is a key part of stopping the run, and Pittsburgh has struggled to do that. It is going to be hard to win meaningful games if that problem persists, especially against the better teams in the NFL that show up on the schedule later in the year. Benton needs to show some signs of progression, whether that be as a starter, or as someone who rotates in with the starting lineup throughout a game. Benton can still have a future in Pittsburgh, but he is going to need to improve in 2025 while setting himself up for success in 2026.
Pete Carroll opens up about an idea that everyone has regarding the biggest issue with the team's offense
The worst part about the Las Vegas Raiders offense has to be the offensive line, a position group that the Raiders didn't address really at all outside of the 2025 NFL Draft, and even those two draft picks aren't seeing the field. The offensive line hasn't been great at pass blocking for former Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith, but that isn't the worst part of the unit's game. They can't run block at all, which is why Ashton Jeanty isn't having much success. And that could be due to the changes the Raiders staff made to the offensive line. The right guys aren't playing. "We want to see JPJ [Jackson Powers-Johnson] come back to action and get back involved. In all phases of it, we have to get off the football better and make more of the running game. There's not enough happening there to act on the play pass game, and we're just not getting enough. So, we just got to keep working it. We got the guys we got, and we need to keep developing and keep building on it. We're working at the right guard spot. Our young guys, they'll get their turn sometime, but they're not ready yet. So, we have what we have, and we've got to make our guys do better, and we've got to fit it together better than we have." The Raiders' offensive line has much deeper issues at hand JPJ didn't start the game against the Washington Commanders this last week, despite being healthy and recovered from his concussion. Carroll noted that the decision between him and Cappa came down to the continuity and that the Raiders were on a short week. But Cappa is not very good. The former Cincinnati Bengals guard led the league in blown blocks with 40 and led the league in pressures allowed last season. Last year, Jackson Powers-Johnson was one of the best young centers in the league. He had his rookie moments, but by the end of the season, he had some moments where he was pancaking defenders in the second level on run plays. His move to center last season is when he really started to take over, rather than when he was playing guard. This offseason, the Raiders decided to not only move him away from the center position but to put him in a position battle at the guard spot. JPJ may be the second-best offensive lineman on the team, and yet, the Raiders have something weird going on with him. Yes, he was hurt, but he recovered, and there is no reason why he shouldn't have started. By the end of last season, the Raiders' offensive line really started to put things together. So, why would Pete Carroll's son, Brennan Carroll, mess all of that up as the offensive line coach? Something's going on with the offensive line, and it's truly affecting the entire offense. Yes, the unit isn't very good, but they are making it even harder on themselves by playing the wrong players. When your defense is bad, offense is bad, and special teams are bad, it's hard to beat anyone. Add that into the fact that the offensive line is atrocious and winning football games looks impossible, despite the fact they've already won one against the New England Patriots. window.addEventListener('message', function (event) {if (event.data.totalpoll event.data.totalpoll.action === 'resizeHeight') {document.querySelector('#totalpoll-iframe-365').height = event.data.totalpoll.value;}}, false);document.querySelector('#totalpoll-iframe-365').contentWindow.postMessage({totalpoll: {action: 'requestHeight'}}, '*');
NBA Rumors: Jonathan Kuminga, Quentin Grimes, Russell Westbrook, free agency
Jonathan Kuminga’s restricted free agency continues to drag on, leaving the Warriors in limbo. Golden State recently made a new three-year offer to their 22-year-old forward, but his agent has already said that taking the $8 million qualifying offer remains a real possibility. Until this gets resolved, the Warriors are stuck. They’ve been connected to veterans Al Horford, De’Anthony Melton and Gary Payton II, along with names like Seth Curry and Cody Martin, but those deals can’t get finalized until Kuminga’s situation is clear. Golden State technically only has 10 players under contract — the fewest in the league — and still has two unsigned draft picks (Alex Toohey and Will Richard) along with two-way RFA Taran Armstrong hanging out there. Grimes and the Sixers Quentin Grimes is another restricted free agent still waiting. Unlike Kuminga, there hasn’t been much noise around his talks with Philadelphia lately. The Sixers clearly like him, but time is running short with the October 1 qualifying offer deadline looming. Westbrook and the Kings Russell Westbrook remains the most decorated unrestricted free agent still on the market. Sacramento has been his only real link so far, but the Kings have been hesitant to make other moves while they keep an eye on Kuminga’s RFA process. A resolution there could open the door for Westbrook. Achiuwa Watch Precious Achiuwa surprisingly remains unsigned. He turned 26 this summer and has been on the radar for both EuroLeague teams and NBA clubs. Panathinaikos showed interest before pivoting to Richaun Holmes, while Miami has been linked but is limited by the tax line. Other UFAs There are still a handful of familiar NBA names floating around: Ben Simmons (who has considered retirement), Monte Morris, Cameron Payne, Malik Beasley (still tied to a gambling probe), Alec Burks, Mo Bamba and Thomas Bryant. Training camps are less than two weeks away, and jobs are scarce.
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