Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — John Calipari opened his mouth Friday night and it cost him $10,000 almost right away.
That was the best part of Primetime at the Palace, at least if you’re Hank Pruitt.
Pruitt was one of five students picked to shoot from half court for $10,000.
Before any of them took a turn, the Arkansas coach told the crowd he’d match the prize for every shot that went in.
Pruitt was first in line.
He swished it and walked off with $20,000.
That’s $10,000 from the contest and $10,000 from the coach.
Calipari almost had to pay again when the second student barely missed.
WHAT A WAY TO KICK THINGS OFF 👀 pic.twitter.com/pF1mN167Rk
— Arkansas Men’s Basketball 🐗 (@RazorbackMBB) October 3, 2026
Calipari got a break after that
The other three shooters weren’t close, which is how these things usually go.
The coach’s wallet was probably grateful for the bad aim.
The night had started with introductions for the women’s and men’s teams, and both head coaches talked to the fans.
Then it moved quickly from the half-court shots into the dunk contest.
Billy Richmond III won that one, and he’s clearly the crowd’s guy.
His first dunk came from the free-throw line.
Later he threw down a reverse windmill with fans chanting his name and clapping in time.
He finished with 73.5% of the fan vote, so there wasn’t much suspense about who’d win.
Dunk contest didn’t disappoint 😏 pic.twitter.com/OPWvZA8fgL
— Arkansas Men’s Basketball 🐗 (@RazorbackMBB) October 3, 2026
Other Hogs got their dunks in too
Jordan Smith Jr., Abdou Toure, Jeremiah Wilkinson, Miikka Muurinen and JJ Andrews all had dunks the school’s recap described as nice ones.
None of them were beating Richmond in a fan vote, though.
The recap referred to him as the Billy Goat.
Davion Thompson was the best shooter in the building.
He put up 21 points to win the 3-point contest.
Thompson didn’t dunk, but he didn’t need to.
Wilkinson and Toure tied for second at 16 points each.
Those two had also dunked earlier, so they got more work than most.
Scrimmage lasted 10 minutes
Anyone hoping to learn something about this team from the scrimmage didn’t get much to go on.
It ran 10 minutes, which is barely long enough to break a sweat.
The white team beat the red team 32-28.
That’s the whole report, because the school didn’t list who scored or who played on which side.
Still, it was a brief look at the Razorbacks playing together at Bud Walton Arena, and fans took it.
What they seemed to want more was the part that came after.
Fans went down onto the court for photos and autographs with the players.
The recap called that the highlight of the evening.
Some might argue with that a little.
Dunk contest champ back in BWA like he never left 😮💨🐐 pic.twitter.com/TfFtWfnztG
— Arkansas Men’s Basketball 🐗 (@RazorbackMBB) October 3, 2026
What fans will remember from this one
A college student winning $20,000 on one shot, with half of it coming out of the head coach’s pocket, is hard to top.
Richmond’s windmill is probably second, and the free-throw line dunk isn’t far behind.
Thompson’s 21 in the shootout is worth remembering when the Hogs need somebody to make shots from deep.
None of it tells us how good Arkansas will be, and it’s only October.
The scrimmage score won’t matter to anyone by next week.
Pruitt’s shot will get talked about on campus for a while.
