FAYETTEVILLE – Should they happen to come back to the Natural State anytime soon, Darius Acuff Jr. and Meleek Thomas wouldn't have to pay for a meal.
The pair of one-and-done guards that led Arkansas to a second consecutive Sweet 16 under head coach John Calipari last season are revered among Razorback fans.
Of course, Calipari reloaded by bringing in the No. 1 recruiting class in the country, including Jordan Smith Jr. and JJ Andrews. According to Calipari, both players have a few traits that remind the Hall of Famer of Thomas and Acuff.
"He lives in the gym like Meleek and Darius did," Calipari said of Smith on Sept. 30. "And like other guys that I've had that have elevated as they've gone."
Calipari said that Andrews' work ethic was also on display, especially when it came to improving his shot.
"His arc was too high," Calipari said. "Now he's right in the groove you need to be to be consistent shooting the ball, and Jordan the same – Jordan's [arc] was too low. Now his is in that groove and they're both shooting the ball better."
Georgia transfer guard Jeremiah Wilkinson showed out in the three-point contest at Primetime at the Palace on Oct. 2. Calipari said Wilkinson also put plenty of work into his shot over the summer.
"Jeremiah, he's shooting more than 5,000 shots a week," Calipari said. "And it's on the machine, so it's charted, and I get the charts. 5,000 a week. The other guys are shooting between 2,500-3,000 a week… by the end of the year, he's going to shoot 85,000 shots. What?
"And I told him, you don't have to make every shot. You can't miss 'em all. You gotta make one or two."
Calipari famously does not like being asked about where his teams stack up to each other in regard to talent, though the question was posed to him anyway.
"You can't say that to me, come on," he joked. "At 80 pros and 15 All-Stars and two MVPs and four No. 1 picks… let these guys play the season and we'll figure [it] out. I do know this: if we win, we've been winning and we've been doing some good things and I'm proud of these guys.
"What we've done over two years… if we break through a little bit, we'll have five or six guys from this team drafted."
Smith and Andrews are likely to be among those in that group and carry on the legacy of Calipari players to go to the NBA, just as Acuff and Thomas did.
Arkansas will begin exhibition play Saturday, Oct. 24 at Bud Walton Arena agaisnt Gonzaga with tip-off set for 3 p.m. CT. The game will be streamed on the SEC Network+.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/arkansas as Why John Calipari Compared Jordan Smith Jr. To Acuff, Thomas.