Adou Thiero talks Arkansas, John Calipari, development and more

The start of the Arkansas Razorbacks’ 2024-2025 basketball season is looming, with head coach John Calipari entering his first season leading the program.

Calipari — who left Kentucky after 15 seasons to take over in Fayetteville — brought three transfers from Lexington to bolster his roster this season. One of those players is Adou Thiero, who spent the last two seasons with the Wildcats under Calipari.

Thiero did an interview on 103.7 The Buzz on Thursday and talked about his choice to transfer to Arkansas. Calipari, coupled with a need for a different setting, played heavily into the decision.

“Just the love I was getting from Coach Cal and the staff,” Thiero said. “I was able to meet with Cal probably four times in a week in three different states, so that played a big role; and when I got down to the university it was just something different. No downtown, big cities or anything. It was something different and I just felt like I needed something different in my life.”

Thiero added the addition of associate head coach Kenny Payne, who worked on Calipari’s staff for 10 years before serving as the head coach at Louisville most recently, factored into his decision.

“From what I heard about him and being with him, he’s a great coach,” Thiero said. “I’m glad I made my decision.”

The Razorbacks are now practicing after taking most of August off following summer conditioning, and Thiero said the culture is one of selflessness and hustle.

“We play very fast, that’s what I like most,” Thiero said. “We run very unselfish, we all play for each other. That’s what I like the most, because that’s the culture. He enforces that through everybody. It’s just a great style of play.”

For those unfamiliar with Thiero’s game, he said he empties the tank every time he’s on the floor.

“I leave it all on the floor,” Thiero said. “I got out play as hard as I can, do whatever my team needs me to do, block shots, score, distribute.”

Calipari has said multiple times he intends to play a rotation of eight or nine players this coming season, and that roster includes several scoring threats, which Thiero said helps because there’s less pressure to be the one to create a bucket. That means he’s able to find other ways to contribute to the team.

“Sometimes it’s a nice feeling, because you don’t always have to be the one to go get the bucket if you’re tired,” Thiero said. “But always finding a way to be able to help the team in other ways, if its not scoring. It’s going to be fun, we all can go score.”

Thiero played in 45 games for Kentucky over the last two seasons, with last season being his most productive. He averaged 7.2 points per game on 49.2% shooting and 31.8% from beyond the arc.

RELATED: Arkansas basketball’s 2024-25 schedule nearly complete

Over the summer, Thiero said he has put a point of emphasis on improving his shooting and becoming more of a threat from three which, coupled with his size (6-foot-8, 220 pounds) and athleticism, will give him more opportunities to score off the dribble.

“That will make it harder for defenders to guard me, because they cant just sit back,” Thiero said. “When they’re closing out, I can shoot the ball and it’ll go in, so they’ll have to get a hand up and I can beat them off the dribble. With my size, I can get to the rim, finish, with my athleticism I can dunk on somebody.”

The goal for most college athletes is to make it to the professional ranks, whether it be the NBA or basketball overseas. With the introduction of NIL allowing athletes to profit while in college, though, the mindset of being a pro is something Calipari is instilling in his team right now.

“He treats us like pros, he wants us to get into that pro mindset and not that ‘oh we’re in college’ mindset,” Thiero said. “It’s none of that. We’re pros, at the end of the day, he wants us to act like pros and have pro habits.”

The Arkansas basketball schedule hasn’t been officially released, but HawgBeat has a somewhat clear picture of what it will look like. Right now, it appears the season will start on Nov. 6 with a game against Lipscomb at Bud Walton Arena.

Be sure to stay tuned to HawgBeat for the latest in Arkansas basketball as the season draws closer.