FAYETTEVILLE – There wasn't much to glean from Friday's Primetime at the Palace event at Bud Walton Arena on Friday evening – aside from the fact that excitement around Arkansas basketball is at a fever pitch.
That was evident by the long line that formed outside Bud Walton Arena before doors even opened at 7 p.m. Before the event started at 8, the later-arriving crowd began filing into the upper decks of the arena.
"Next year, we got to fill the upper deck too," men's basketball head coach John Calipari said.
Calipari, along with the 2026-27 iteration of the Razorbacks, were introduced on Friday. That included head coach Kelsi Musick and the Arkansas women's basketball squad.
"We're going to give you our version of 40 Minutes of Hell," Musick said, referencing the style of play made famous by Nolan Richardson's Arkansas teams.
Excited to get back out on Nolan Richardson Court! pic.twitter.com/eROWLXDoTG
– Arkansas Women's Basketball (@RazorbackWBB) October 3, 2026
If the fans weren't already fired up to see the teams introduced, that paled in comparison to how excited they were during the ensuing dunk contest.
Billy Richmond won the contest with a 360, tomahawk slam, though the most entertaining flush of the night came on the part of Jeremiah Wilkinson. Wilkinson made a dunk after jumping over Amere Brown and assistant coach and former player Ronnie Brewer.
Dunk contest champ back in BWA like he never left pic.twitter.com/TfFtWfnztG
– Arkansas Men's Basketball (@RazorbackMBB) October 3, 2026
Mikka Muurinen missed his first two dunk attempts, while Caleb Ourigou missed his first before making his second. Abdou Toure, after winning a game of knockout against UA sorority members, missed his first three dunks.
Richmond overwhelmingly won the contest after his final dunk, which was preluded by thundering chants of "Billy" inside Bud Walton Arena.
While it was a veteran in Richmond who won the dunk contest, a fresh face in freshman Davion Thompson – who should be starting his senior year of high school but reclassified to play with Arkansas this year – won the three-point contest. Thompson beat Toure in his round, while neither JJ Andrews, Miikka Muurinen, Ilia Frolov or Jeremiah Wilkinson could beat Thompson's score of 21.
The on-court festivities ended with a 10-minute Red-White scrimmage, in which Thompson was arguably the MVP. He made two deep threes for the White team and had several assists, including a pair of alley oops to Caleb Ourigou and Toure. Ourigou had several slams during the scrimmage.
At the end of the 10-minute scrimmage, fans slowly stormed Nolan Richardson Court, angling to try and get a picture with their favorite Razorbacks.
In an arena where basketball won't be played for another three weeks and basketball that counts won't be played for another month, an entire state came together on Friday night.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/arkansas as Fans' Excitement For Primetime at the Palace Shows What Exciting Razorback Basketball Means To Arkansas.