John Calipari left Kentucky and took over a roster-less Arkansas. Most players had entered the transfer portal after the previous coach, Eric Musselman, left for his new job as head coach at USC.

Tasked with building a talent-heavy team from the ground up, Coach Calipari delivered as he has already signed seven players to the Razorbacks in a month.

Four players, Johnell Davis, Jonas Aidoo, Adou Thiero and Zvonimir Ivišić, joined from the transfer portal. Meanwhile, three of Calipari’s previous commits to Kentucky, Karter Knox, Boogie Fland and Billy Richmond left the Wildcats to follow him to Fayetteville.

Fans in the comments were impressed by the speed of his recruitment, which shows the faith that players have in his coaching.

“Very impressive team! Looks like they are built for March!”

“Hogs are loaded. Gonna be a fun year,” a fan commented.

“King of Rosters,” another fan wrote.

“It was the University of Calipari not the University of Kentucky, I think that’s clear to see now,” one fan wrote.

Meanwhile, some were less enthusiastic about the recruits as they believed that John Calipari’s challenges lie not in recruitment but in coaching the players to achieve victories and make deep postseason runs.

“Recruiting was never a problem”

“All to lose in the first round to 15 seed Utah Valley,” a fan wrote.

“nobody does less with that much talent than john calipari,” a user said.

“Conducting elite rosters has never been a problem for Cal. We had an elite roster last year and lost to Oakland in the first round. Elite Rosters + Cal do not always = Success. In fact for the past several years it = disappointment,” another fan explained.

Adou Thiero, the latest former Wildcat to join John Calipari

On Monday, former Kentucky forward Adou Thiero announced that he will be joining John Calipari and transferring to play for Razorbacks in his junior season. After considering a long list of offers, Thiero narrowed it down to five schools: Pitt, Kentucky, Indiana, North Carolina and Arkansas.

The projected first-round NBA draft pick in 2025 explained his decision:

“I started with Coach Cal and want to see it through with him,” Thiero said (via ESPN). “Very excited to join the family and ready to get to work. He’s known for putting guys in the NBA that also stay in the NBA and coach Kenny Payne, who is now with him again, was also there for some of those years.

“After already playing for him and developing after two years, I feel that he knows my game and will put me in the right position to succeed and achieve my goals.”

Thiero improved his game drastically from his first year to the second as he went from averaging 2.3 points and 1.9 rebounds in his freshman season to 7.2 points and 5.0 rebounds last season.

After Zvonimir Ivišić, Thiero is the second Wildcats player to follow John Calipari.