Arkansas head coach John Calipari had yet another batch of top high school recruits come in. Unsurprisingly, they’ll leave for the NBA with a massive amount of team success and individual success in developing said players. Today, let’s talk about some of the players from Arkansas that we’ll see in the 2026 NBA Draft, plus a few others from the University of Virginia.
(Note: This was uploaded about a month ago. Reuploading it here!)
Darius Acuff Jr.
Darius Acuff Jr. was the prize of the 2025 high school recruits for the Razorbacks. He started off a little shaky, but he improved a lot throughout and became one of the best players in the country by the end of the season. Going into the season, this was someone I was really low on. I didn’t like the shooting, the shot selection, the defense, or the passing, as it reminded me a lot of someone more like Monta Ellis. The shooting improved a lot this year especially off the catch. The decision making also got better and we saw a real ability to play PG.
On Drives: 62/92 = 67.3%
On Layups: 105/175 = 60%
On Pullups: 14/42 = 33.3%
On Dunks: 6/9 = 66.7%
As you can see, Acuff relies heavily on getting to the rim. He does shoot it well from 3 on decent volume and I fully expect that to translate. However, he’s not super explosive and there were times that he struggled to get by players. I think that will be more of a struggle in the NBA and hence why I’m not going to be as high on him as some others. Now, this could also be a situation where he figures it out, he becomes more shifty and he’s the next great Calipari guard. I’m not ruling it out, but I feel he will have more struggles than those higher on him might think.
I think he’s a good bet to take at the back end of the top 10 and going into the early teens, but I am not taking him anywhere near the top of the class. Now, you’ll see my player comparisons and some might think Keyonte George is an insult to him. I think that’s what it could look like if it most of it comes together. There is a higher end outcome like a Jalen Brunson type of player, but there needs to be much more improvement from Acuff before it gets to that point. He might improve to that point though, given that we have a track record of him improving a lot mid-season this year.
Looking at this query, there’s a lot of names that didn’t make the NBA. However, the only other freshman season on this list was Trae Young. That is the level of offensive player Darius Acuff is. But, let’s also consider this: Trae Young is currently 164 pounds. Acuff is almost 200 pounds, but he’s not as elite of a shooter in terms of volume. I think we’ll know very quickly if Acuff can be a Trae Young-level offensive creator in the NBA or not. The defense has to come around or he’ll be treated like Trae Young and likely not be on a lot of winning teams, or face a similar contract situation with Young being dumped to Washington when we get to his extension. For fantasy and dynasty purposes though, that all doesn’t matter as much.
Meleek Thomas
The wild card next to Darius Acuff, Meleek Thomas, came into college marketed as a heavy ball handler who is largely known for his shot making. There were real questions on whether or not Acuff and Thomas would be able to play together in college. Well, Calipari figured that out with ease and Meleek had a really good season in this adjusted role. He started out pretty hot, got on some radars, really cooled down and fell off. Then, towards the end of the season, he started to pick back up. In short, as a potential shotmaker and shooter, there’s a lot of appeal.
On Drives: 33/43 = 76.7%
On Layups: 58/102 = 56.9%
On Pullups: 11/25 = 44.4%
On Dunks: 3/5 = 60%
Another shot chart that looks pretty promising. I believe that Meleek Thomas is an NBA level scorer right now when he’s on. The question to me is all about the defense, physicality and the decision making. I think it’d be for those reasons that he wouldn’t be able to play in the NBA next season. Also, given that those are his weaknesses, I think it may be best for him to go back to school and play with those guards at Arkansas next season. He didn’t enter the portal so it’s either the NBA or back to Arkansas. Now, I’m not the one making that decision so if he’s in this draft, I think he’s got a real chance of going in the first round, but I’d really hope its a team that’s rebuilding.
The outcomes here aren’t amazing. There’s a lot of interesting role players like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Tim Hardaway Jr. Interestingly enough, Darryn Peterson is also on this list, but I think this is more to show the shooting and effectiveness than anything else. Meleek is more talented than a lot of these players so I think there’s a larger margin for error. We’ll obviously see what happens, but I’d be viewing him as a Malik Monk type of guard.
Trevon Brazile
Trevon Brazile started out at Missouri before transferring to Arkansas, where he’s spent the rest of his college career. This season, he had a breakout year playing with Darius Acuff and revitalized his draft buzz after a couple disappointing years. He still has a lot of moments where he makes some really baffling decisions, but when he’s playing a simple role, you can see why he has appeal as an NBA athlete and 3PT shooting big man.
On Drives: 18/21 = 85.7%
On Layups: 49/68 = 72%
On Pullups: 0/4 = 0%
On Dunks: 54/56 = 96.4%
As you can see here by the shot chart, it’s very dunks and 3’s oriented. He’s legitimately elite around the rim with an 82% rim percentage. However, there’s not room for him to scale up in a role. The decision making and low BBIQ plays are a real problem. If a coach can get him to clean up those plays, simplify his game even more, there’s potential here. The shot doesn’t look broken and an athletic big man who can shoot 3’s has NBA appeal. The defense improved this year even though he still had bad moments. Towards the end of the season, we saw the best of Trevon from his entire college career.
Now, let me start by saying that he’s obviously not Jonathan Isaac or even close to him as a defensive prospect. However, the idea of Trevon Brazile is a lot like Noah Clowney. Clowney was a much better prospect and much younger than Trevon. So, what the hope would be here is that he’s more polished coming in and he lands on a team where he can get out and run with a good passing PG off the bench. Brazile would likely terrorize the G League when he plays there this season.
Ugonna Onyenso
Ugonna Onyenso has had quite a college basketball journey. He started off at Kentucky under John Calipari, where he played decent minutes. He declared for the draft after his sophomore season where he was fully intending to stay in the draft. That did not happen and decided to (likely) go to the highest bidder at Kansas State. It was a horrific fit and his stock dropped tremendously. I saw him play in person when he was at Kansas State. He barely played and was shockingly bad when he did. He left after that one season and transferred to Virginia.
Coming in, I was pretty skeptical, but his production this year was undeniable. He led the ACC in blocks per game and total blocks despite coming off the bench and playing 18.8 MPG. One of Onyenso’s best games this season was against Duke in the ACC tournament where he blocked Cameron Boozer five times in the final game, and this got him a lot of late season buzz from the draft community. One of the takeaways with Onyenso is, if talented players are miscast by a bad coach and end up with a good one that understands and schemes their game better, they’re likely going to get a lot better (shoutout Mick Cronin and Aday Mara).
On Drives: 3/7 = 42%
On Layups: 31/55 = 56.3%
On Pullups: 0/1 = 0%
On Dunks: 15/19 = 78.9%
There might be a chance that he shoots it eventually, but I highly doubt that he develops it in the NBA. He’ll likely be used as a bit of a drop big or as an energy big on defense. He never averaged more than 20 minutes a game in college, which is a little concerning, but we already outlined why that. For those who don’t know, Virginia also has Johann Grunloh, who will likely play in the NBA at some point, so I wouldn’t be panicking as much about the minutes. He should get serious looks no matter what given his tools and elite shot block ability.
This is a pretty interesting group of names. If it really works, it could look something like Neemias Queta. Now, Queta could move better than Onyenso, but Onyenso is a bit bigger and stronger. There might be some Walker Kessler-level outcomes on the high end, but I doubt that happens. He’s someone that could be unlocked with a really good coach and staff. Early on, that could look like a potential second round pick that makes an All Rookie team.
Quick Hits:
There will be some pretty big names here that will be worth checking in on. Let’s go around the horn.
Let’s start with Billy Richmond . A player that is a real winner does a lot of the dirty work. Second half of the season, he had a real breakout and showed a bit more scoring. If he shoots it at all, he could very likely be an NBA starter. Elite defender and athlete at the wing position. Great in transition as well. I would expect him to go back and if he does, will probably be in some lottery conversations entering the pre-season.
Let’s continue with Arkansas and talk Karter Knox here. Another year of a lot of the same stuff for Karter. Continued to flash but be very passive. He is transferring to Louisville where he’ll have an opportunity to revitalize his stock. Hilarious that his brother Kevin was at Kentucky with Calipari.
DJ Wagner had a better year but was mostly overshadowed by Acuff and Meleek. With all the other guards coming in next season, it made sense to transfer and he is going to Maryland next season. He should start next season and hopefully play better. His best hope will be to get a Portsmouth invite and start playing really well. He still has a chance to be the first third generation NBA player in history.
Let’s shift over to Virginia. Johann Grunloh, as I mentioned above, is the starting center for the Cavaliers. He showed some potential but still needs more polish.. He’s someone that will play in the NBA one day if he continues to develop.
Chance Mallory will likely be a four year player but when he comes out, he will get some interest. He’s just really small but has always played higher than height at the PG position. Interested to see how he develops.
One other little note even though he’s not draft eligible: Thijs De Ridder had a good season at Virginia this year. He’s strong and plays a role where you can squint and see some Tristan Da Silva in him. The main thing that’s important about this is once the season is over, there’s a decent chance that he gets a look by an NBA team with likely being on a two way contract.
Dynasty Outlook
Darius Acuff will be getting looks pretty early in rookie drafts. The question is how risky do you want to be here. I would expect that Acuff goes in the top 10 of dynasty drafts and I think that’s probably where he should go. I think the actual pick number will vary quite a bit between leagues. He’s someone where I’m really interested to see where he ends up.
Meleek Thomas would be someone that managers should be looking at in the 20’s if he stays in this draft. He can fill up the stat sheet a little bit and there’s some good scoring here. That being said, you’d need to understand that he probably doesn’t play much as a rookie if he comes out this year.
Now let’s get to the two interesting back end flyers for deeper leagues. Honestly for Onyenso, I think you can make a case that you can go into the top 40 for him even if he goes undrafted. It would obviously depend on landing spot and contract but he could be an elite blocks streamer. For Trevon Brazile, I think he should be in the 45-60 range. I think he probably should be drafted but I think it will be more fit dependent and he might take some time before he really starts to get going given his flaws.
Ready to jump into the draft conversation and engage with the dynasty community? Come join us on the Dizzle Dynasty Discord and get in on the best NBA, draft and fantasy basketball discussions in the community.