John Calipari's first time on the sidelines of Bud Walton Arena as head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks will be against none other than preseason No. 1 seed Kansas, he announced Wednesday.
Calipari posted on X that Arkansas has scheduled two preseason charity exhibition games, with the first being at home against Kansas on Oct. 25.
The Jayhawks are ranked No. 1 in ESPN's Too Early Top 25.
Arkansas will also face TCU in Fort Worth on Nov. 1 in a charity exhibition game.
The Razorbacks hired Calipari from Kentucky last April after 15 seasons with the Wildcats. He led the program to a national championship in 2012 and reached four Final Fours in his first six seasons in Lexington.
“This is a dream job. It was my dream job,” Calipari said upon leaving Kentucky. “Anybody in our profession looks at the University of Kentucky in basketball and says, it's the bluest of the blue. Over the last few weeks, we've realized that this program probably needs to hear another voice. And the fans need to hear another voice. We've loved being here, but we think it's time for us to step away. And step away from the program completely.”
Calipari, who replaced Eric Musselman in Fayetteville, signed a five-year contract in Arkansas starting at $7 million per season.
He rebuilt the Razorbacks' roster by bringing in three players he coached at Kentucky (DJ Wagner, Adou Thiero, Zvonimir Ivisic) and three recruits he signed at Kentucky (Johnuel Fland, Karter Knox, Billy Richmond), while also landing top-10 transfers Johnell Davis and Jonas Aidoo.
Bill Self's team is looking to bounce back from last season, the Jayhawks' worst campaign since Self took over in 2003.
Kansas returns three starters, including All-American Hunter Dickinson, and adds star transfers AJ Storr (Wisconsin), Rylan Griffen (Alabama) and Zeke Mayo (South Dakota State).
