{"id":527669,"date":"2026-03-10T21:41:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T21:41:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/527669\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T21:41:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T21:41:07","slug":"where-arkansas-darius-acuff-jr-ranks-among-john-caliparis-best-nba-guards-from-kentucky-and-memphis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/527669\/","title":{"rendered":"Where Arkansas Darius Acuff Jr. ranks among John Calipari&#8217;s best NBA guards from Kentucky and Memphis"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>John Calipari has built a reputation as one of college basketball\u2019s premier developers of elite guards. From Memphis to Kentucky and now Arkansas, Calipari\u2019s system has consistently produced NBA-ready point guards and first-round draft picks.<\/p>\n<p>Some of the most recognizable names in the sport with Derrick Rose, John Wall and De\u2019Aaron Fox have flourished as freshmen under Calipari before launching standout NBA careers. Right now, Arkansas freshman Darius Acuff Jr. is making a statistical case that his debut season may rank among the best of them all.<\/p>\n<p>The SEC Player and Freshman of the Year is averaging 21.2 points and 6.3 assists per game while shooting 50.3% from the field and 43.2% from 3-point range. The numbers place him near the top of the list among Calipari\u2019s elite freshman point guards.<\/p>\n<p>By comparison, Rose averaged 14.9 points and 4.7 assists at Memphis in 2007-08 while shooting 47.7%. Wall posted 16.6 points and 6.5 assists during his freshman season at Kentucky in 2009-10. Fox averaged 16.7 points and 4.6 assists in 2016-17, while Tyreke Evans produced 17.1 points and 3.9 assists during his lone college season.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Elite freshman point guards under John Calipari by the numbers:<\/p>\n<p>Darius Acuff<br \/>21.2 PPG, 6.3 APG, 50.3 FG%, 43.2 3-pt FG%<\/p>\n<p>Derrick Rose<br \/>14.9 PPG, 4.7 APG, 47.7 FG%, 33.7 3-pt FG%<\/p>\n<p>Tyreke Evans<br \/>17.1 PPG, 3.9 APG, 45.5 FG%, 27.4 3-pt FG%<\/p>\n<p>John Wall<br \/>16.6 PPG, 6.5 APG, 46.1 FG%, 32.5\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JonRothstein\/status\/2023080637800776148?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">February 15, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Statistically, Acuff\u2019s scoring and shooting efficiency stand out even among that elite group.<\/p>\n<p>His impact has been evident throughout the season. In Arkansas\u2019 105-85 win over Texas, Acuff finished with 28 points and 13 assists, one of 16 games this season with at least 20 points and five assists, the most by any Division I player.<\/p>\n<p>More:\u00a0<a target=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sportingnews.com\/ca\/ncaa-basketball\/news\/adrian-autry-says-quiet-part-out-loud-about-syracuses-future\/7b5865b34291cf0729df6739\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Adrian Autry says the quiet part out loud about Syracuse&#8217;s future<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Acuff has been called a \u201cgenerational player&#8221; for his ability to control the game most facets. The freshman guard has also produced one of the most memorable performances of the season, scoring 49 points in a double-overtime loss to Alabama despite playing through a foot injury.<\/p>\n<p>Calipari has coached dozens of future NBA players during his career, but Acuff\u2019s combination of scoring and efficiency is placing him firmly in the conversation among the best freshman guards the veteran coach has ever had.<\/p>\n<p>More college basketball news:<\/p>\n<p>                            <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"John Calipari has built a reputation as one of college basketball\u2019s premier developers of elite guards. From Memphis&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":527670,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[49,48,459,82],"class_list":["post-527669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=527669"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527669\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/527670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=527669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=527669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=527669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}