Top-10 recruit Darius Acuff commits to John Calipari and Arkansas

Darius Acuff, a top-10 senior and one of high school basketball's elite guards, announced his commitment to John Calipari and Arkansas on Friday, becoming the first five-star prospect available in the class of 2025.

Acuff chose the Razorbacks over Kansas, and Michigan was also on his final three-man list. The Jayhawks were perceived as the favorites in the spring, when Acuff visited Lawrence in late April. But Calipari made it a priority over the final few weeks and ultimately won out.

“We have a great relationship. We've been close for a year and a half,” Acuff said of Calipari. “When I was growing up, I knew what kind of point guard coach he was. He built the best relationship with me. He's always sincere. It's like he's already your coach when you talk to him. He's been there from the beginning. That was a differentiating factor. The history speaks for itself. All the point guards he's put in the league. I want to be a part of that.”

Acuff visited the Arkansas campus in May.

“I spent a lot of time on my visit with Coach Cal, Coach Chin [Coleman] “And the staff,” he said. “I saw how hard Rob Dillingham coached at Kentucky. He pushes his guys and he also encourages them. So when they come into the game, they know what to do.”

“When he first proposed to me last year, our first conversation stuck in my mind. [Calipari said,] “I knew about you, but I'd never seen you play. Then I saw you and I said to myself that I had to have you.”

Acuff, a Detroit native and IMG Academy (Fla.) alum, is the No. 2 point guard and No. 10 prospect on the ESPN 100 for 2025. He averaged 23.9 points (second in the competition) and 3.6 assists for The Family on the Nike EYBL circuit this spring, then started all six games for USA Basketball’s under-18 team at the FIBA ​​U18 AmeriCup. He averaged 17.8 points and 4.0 assists en route to the gold medal.

Acuff can score as well as anyone in his class. He gets to the paint with ease, given his speed, a tight and controlled handle, along with the ability to move around in his game to keep defenders off balance. He is difficult to guard, as he can go in any direction after the rebound or pull up and knock down a jumper. Acuff is an underrated distributor, having vision and pace in his passing. The next step for him is to balance his game in terms of scoring and facilitating the pass, while being more of a ball-mover.

“I'm working on being more of a team player,” Acuff said. “I'm trying to use my voice more and be more of a leader. Coach Sean McAloon and I have had a lot of conversations this spring and summer about how I can be better. I need to be more of a point guard and also get the ball earlier.”

Acuff becomes the 16th five-star guard to commit to Calipari since he took over at Kentucky in 2009. Calipari has now landed at least one five-star guard in every class in that span except 2012 and 2019.

That trend has carried over to Arkansas so far, as five-star guard Boogie Fland followed Calipari from Kentucky to Fayetteville in the class of 2024.

Calipari recruited seven top-notch players to Lexington during his time at Kentucky, and he has continued to make big strides since moving to Arkansas. With Acuff on the team, Calipari continues to target players like Meleek Thomas (No. 7), Koa Peat (No. 4), Caleb Wilson (No. 5), Nate Ament (No. 8) and more. The Razorbacks also made it to the final five for Jasper Johnson (No. 12), who trimmed his roster on Wednesday.

In what has been a remarkably slow-developing class as far as commitments go, Acuff is the first five-star senior to announce his college decision. Entering the week, No. 20 Syracuse-bound Sadiq White was the highest-ranked prospect who had made his commitment.