Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story
The NBA season opens tonight, and it’s going to look a lot like a John Calipari reunion.
The Arkansas coach has 27 former players on NBA opening day rosters. No other active coach comes anywhere near that.
Mark Few of Gonzaga is second. He has 12.
Twenty-three of Calipari’s players come from his years at Kentucky. The other four played for him at Arkansas.
Schools can’t match him either. Kentucky and Duke have 26 players apiece on opening day rosters, and Arizona has 16.
Read that again. One coach has more NBA players than any college in America. And Kentucky’s 26 isn’t really separate from him, because 23 of those guys played for Calipari.
The money side of it
They’re not playing for free, by the way.
Calipari’s former players are set to make $637 million in salaries this season.
Seven of them will make more than $40 million each.
Eight NBA teams have a pair of his players. Those teams are San Antonio, Houston, Philadelphia, Denver, Miami, Sacramento, Oklahoma City and the Los Angeles Lakers.
In Houston, it’s Reed Sheppard and Oscar Tshiebwe. Denver has Jamal Murray and former Razorback Trevon Brazile.
Every Calipari player on an opening day roster is listed below with his team:
- Darius Acuff Jr., Sacramento Kings
- Bam Adebayo, Miami Heat
- Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns
- Trevon Brazile, Denver Nuggets
- Anthony Davis, Washington Wizards
- Justin Edwards, Philadelphia 76ers
- De’Aaron Fox, San Antonio Spurs
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder
- Tyler Herro, Milwaukee Bucks
- Isaiah Jackson, Los Angeles Clippers
- Keldon Johnson, San Antonio Spurs
- Trey Lyles, Minnesota Timberwolves
- Tyrese Maxey, Philadelphia 76ers
- Malik Monk, Sacramento Kings
- Jamal Murray, Denver Nuggets
- Immanuel Quickley, Toronto Raptors
- Julius Randle, Brooklyn Nets
- Nick Richards, Miami Heat
- Shaedon Sharpe, Portland Trail Blazers
- Reed Sheppard, Houston Rockets
- Adou Thiero, Los Angeles Lakers
- Meleek Thomas, Cleveland Cavaliers
- Karl-Anthony Towns, New York Knicks
- Oscar Tshiebwe, Houston Rockets
- Jarred Vanderbilt, Los Angeles Lakers
- Cason Wallace, Oklahoma City Thunder
- PJ Washington, Dallas Mavericks
- Hogs hit 11 again
Arkansas has 11 players on opening day rosters this season.
If that number sounds familiar, it should. The Hogs have had 11 in the NBA at the same time for three straight years now.
Kentucky is the only SEC school ahead of them. Texas has 10. Tennessee, Florida and Alabama sit at eight.
Ole Miss and Mississippi State have one player each.
Only 10 programs in the country have double-digit players on opening day rosters, and the Razorbacks are one of them. They’re tied with North Carolina at 11.
Kansas, UCLA and Texas make up the rest of that group at 10 apiece.
The school’s list of Razorbacks in the NBA reads this way:
- Darius Acuff Jr., Sacramento Kings
- Anthony Black, Orlando Magic
- Trevon Brazile, Denver Nuggets
- Daniel Gafford, Dallas Mavericks
- Isaiah Joe, Detroit Pistons
- Moses Moody, Golden State Warriors
- Bobby Portis, Miami Heat
- Meleek Thomas, Cleveland Cavaliers
- Jordan Walsh, Boston Celtics
- Jaylin Williams, Oklahoma City Thunder
You’ll notice Acuff, Brazile and Thomas on both lists. They count for the Hogs and for Calipari.
Calipari and Few meet Saturday
The top two names on that coaching list will be on the same floor this weekend.
Calipari and Few are both in the Naismith Hall of Fame. Their teams meet in an exhibition Saturday, Oct. 24, at Bud Walton Arena.
No. 12/13 Arkansas plays No. 15/12 Gonzaga at 3 p.m. on SEC Network Plus.
The game doesn’t count. It’s still the unofficial start of the season for both teams.
Memphis visits the following Wednesday, Oct. 28. That exhibition starts at 7 p.m. and is also on SECN+.
The NBA guys will be eight days into their season by then.
