Arkansas star Darius Acuff Jr. declares for 2026 NBA Draft

“First, I want to just thank God. I want to thank my family, of course. Without them, I wouldn’t be here,” Acuff said. “I want to thank all of the coaches that I’ve dealt with in my life, all of the teammates. With that being said, I’m going to be declaring for the 2026 NBA draft.”

Acuff is coming of off a historic freshman outing in which he averaged 23.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game while shooting 44% from beyond the arc.

He dropped 30 points on six different occasions and shot 50% or better from the floor in all of those games.

At 6’3″, Acuff established himself as one of college basketball’s most elite scorers this season. His shot-creation is pro-ready and he brings impressive IQ and playmaking to the table as well.

While there are serious concerns about his abilities on the defensive end, his offensive mastery more than makes up for the shortcomings on the other end.

He is currently projected to be a top-10 pick at worst and could even crack the top five.

James Parker contributed to this story.