Will Arkansas Have A First Round Pick In 2025 NBA Draft?

After not having a player selected in the 2024 NBA Draft, the Arkansas Razorbacks had a five-year streak of having at least one draft selection come to an end.

With new head coach John Calipari now leading the program, that is likely to change next year. The Hall of Famer is now up to 44 all-time NBA Draft selections, which trails only former Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski, who had 46 in his career.

Looking ahead to the 2024-25 roster Calipari has put together, the Razorbacks are up to 11 scholarship players — two of which were listed in ESPN’s recent 2025 NBA mock draft, although that number will likely grow once the season begins.

While Calipari signed three highly-touted freshmen in five-star Boogie Fland and four-stars Billy Richmond and Karter Knox, the new Head Hog also brought in some of the nation’s best transfers. Three of those transfers came with Calipari from Kentucky, and two of them — forwards Adou Thiero and Zvonimir Ivisic — were projected as second round selections in next year’s draft by ESPN.

Thiero started 19 games and appeared in 25 as a sophomore last season for the Wildcats. He averaged 7.2 points and 5.0 rebounds while also leading the team regulars with 1.08 blocks per game.

ESPN also tabbed Thiero as a “returning prospect to watch” for the draft, crediting his athleticism, energy and shot-blocking ability at 6-foot-7, 220 pounds. He was mocked to go No. 32 overall with the second pick in the second round.

“Having recently turned 20, Thiero will presumably have an expanded opportunity to showcase his upside after following coach John Calipari to Arkansas,” ESPN’s Jeremy Woo wrote. “He was often undisciplined on the floor and has a long way to go before being trustworthy of minutes at a high level, but Thiero’s leaping ability and penchant for making things happen defensively give him an intriguing baseline if he can learn to read the game better and develop as a perimeter shooter.

“There’s a wide range of development outcomes here, and NBA teams will be interested to see how his role might change in a new situation, even under the same coach.”

Projected nine picks after Thiero at No. 41 was 7-foot-2 big man Zvonimir “Big Z” Ivisic, who missed the first 16 games of his freshman season at Kentucky last year before he became eligible on Jan. 20. Ivisic appeared in 15 games and averaged 5.5 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game.

Ivisic scored double digits four times, including a 12-point performance with nine rebounds and two blocks against Arkansas on March 2. A native of Vodice, Croatia, Ivisic had five games with five-plus rebounds and he also knocked down six threes, including three in his collegiate debut against Georgia on Jan. 20.

ESPN’s mock draft did omit a handful of Razorbacks that will have their names on plenty of other draft boards. Fland and Knox are both projected first round selections on NBADraft.Net, which mocked Fland as the No. 9 overall pick in the first round. That outlet also has Ivisic, Kentucky transfer guard DJ Wagner and returning forward Trevon Brazile projected as second round picks.

Other names that could work their way into being draft selections include some of the Hogs’ top transfer addition in Florida Atlantic guard Johnell Davis and Tennessee big man Jonas Aidoo, although both are older at 23-years-old and 21-years-old, respectively.