BY ALEJANDRO LOPEZ
Arkansas’ season coming to a close means freshman guard Darius Acuff is likely on his way to the NBA Draft. The program’s head coach has warned teams against passing up on the star prospect.
“Pass on him, you’ll regret it,” Arkansas head coach John Calipari told ESPN’s Marc J. Spears. “I said it about [Tyrese] Maxey. I’ve said it about a bunch of guys. I said it about Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander]: ‘You’re going to regret passing on this kid.’ And I know there are other good players, but this kid [Acuff] is unique.”
As Calipari mentioned, he knows a thing or two about developing guards for the NBA. Between Maxey, Gilgeous-Alexander, Devin Booker and John Wall, amongst others, there is no shortage of star guards to come out of the Calipari tree in the NBA.
Acuff is the latest and potentially most touted guard to play under Calipari. The 6-foot-3 freshman is in talks to go anywhere from 2-4 in the 2026 NBA Draft, potentially even ahead of Darryn Peterson, who was the No. 1 guard prospect coming into the college season.
Acuff averaged 23.5 points, 3.1 rebounds and 6.4 assists per game for Arkansas in his freshman year. He will be one of the most interesting pieces to fall in the beginning stages of the draft this year.
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