By ADAM ZAGORIA
New Arkansas coach John Calipari continued to build his roster with the addition Wednesday of FAU transfer Johnell Davis, a key cog of the team’s Final Four run in 2023.
The 6-foot-4 guard averaged 18.2 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.9 assists last season as the Owls lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Dusty May’s final season as the coach before leaving for Michigan.
Davis joins an intriguing backcourt that now includes Kentucky transfer and former No. 1 recruit D.J. Wagner along with five-star freshmen guards Boogie Fland, Billy Richmond and Karter Knox.
After Kentucky was bounced in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last season by an older Oakland team led by 25-year-old sharpshooter Jack Gohlke, Calipari has vowed to change his formula and get older.
“We’re not going to take six, seven freshmen now,” Calipari told ESPN at the SEC meetings this week. “It’ll be three or four. Hopefully retain a few, get a couple transfers, and that is the formula.”
He added: “Now that may not work. And then you’ll say, ‘Well, you said … ‘ Well, I changed my mind. I didn’t like how it looked.”
Arkansas now has eight scholarship players on its roster, and Calipari said he may not go past nine.
“The ninth? It depends on who it is,” he told ESPN. “That’s what we’re looking for. Is it a shooter? Is it a 4-man that could shoot? Is it a strong physical [presence]? Is it a defensive guy? Or just right now I can breathe because we got eight and I’m hoping there’ll be nine. But what if there’s not? Somebody said, ‘Well, what if you have injuries?’ If the wrong guy gets injured on any team in this country, you’re done.”
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