​Credit goes to John Calipari, a coach who never shies away from showering praise on his players, especially when they take the leap to the NBA. The former Kentucky and current Arkansas Razorbacks mentor has long made regular appearances at the NBA draft, and this past offseason he openly supported Darius Acuff and Meleek Thomas as they pursued professional opportunities. Although Acuff went No. 7 overall to the Sacramento Kings, Calipari’s recent remarks on SiriusXM NBA Radio suggested he believed both Acuff and Thomas were not selected as high as their talents warranted. He made that sentiment clear by addressing the teams that passed on the duo.
“Tyrese Maxey and Immanuel Quickley were similar to Darius [Acuff] and Meleek [Thomas]. You get mad, like, ‘what are you people looking at? Do you understand how good these guys are?’” Calipari said. “Here, we get knocked out in the Sweet 16 and people didn’t get the full gist of what Darius was and Darius was a little hurt, and what Meleek was. And now, they’re saying, ‘Oh, how did people pass on Meleek?’ Well, I’ll tell you there are people that passed on Darius too.”
Calipari did acknowledge that he’s happy for both Acuff and Thomas because they landed where people had hoped they would. He also shared that Kings owner Vivek Ranadive reached out to him about Acuff, and Calipari noted that if necessary, he would have encouraged a trade up. Ultimately, the Kings were able to secure the dynamic guard at No. 7 overall.
In his final season at Arkansas, Acuff left a strong imprint on the stat sheet: 23.5 points per game on 48.4 percent shooting, including 44.0 percent from three, along with 6.4 assists and 3.1 rebounds in 35.1 minutes per game. On the other hand, Thomas spent a single season with the Razorbacks, averaging 15.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game, while shooting 41.6 percent from beyond the arc. The 19-year-old guard slid into the early portion of the second round, being selected No. 34 overall and landing with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
This account originally appeared on For The Win, under the headline: “John Calipari calls out NBA teams for passing on Acuff, Thomas: ‘What are you looking at?’” and has been updated to reflect the ongoing conversations surrounding these players and their draft outcomes.