Arkansas freshman phenom Darius Acuff also starred under Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd

The first time Arkansas guard Darius Acuff Jr. played for Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd, there was reason to believe even better things were ahead.

Then a five-star prospect from Detroit, Acuff led the Lloyd-coached USA Basketball team to the gold medal in the 2024 FIBA U18 AmeriCup, collecting an average of 17.8 points and 4.0 assists while shooting 46.7%.

He was named MVP of an AmeriCup tournament that qualified USA for the 2025 U19 World Cup, where he could have helped Lloyd and the Americans capture another gold on a bigger stage last summer.

But Acuff bowed out.

“He just told me he wanted to go get ready for the college season,” Lloyd said last spring after USA Basketball announced its 2025 U19 training camp roster. “Darius is a good player, he’s a great young man, and I’m wishing him nothing but the best.”

While Acuff missed out on a trip to Switzerland and USA's romp to another gold medal, an experience UA forward Koa Peat picked up, the extra time to prep for college may have paid off.

Already a powerful, aggressive and confident scorer, Acuff has transitioned quickly into the Razorbacks’ lead guard as a freshman this season and led them to a 28-8 record and No. 4 NCAA Tournament seed.

It’s been “learning to lead,” Arkansas coach John Calipari said between Arkansas’ first two NCAA Tournament games. “When you lead, you're doing something for everybody else. You're not just scoring for yourself, you're scoring for us.

"And if someone has it going, you lead and get them shots. He's done a fabulous job of that. His body language, wow.”

Acuff not only was named the SEC’s Player and Freshman of the Year, but also a unanimous first-team all-American, improving along with the Razorbacks as the season has gone on.

Since sitting out the Razorbacks’ regular-season finale at Missouri, Acuff has scored 24 or more in five games, including three with 30 or more.

In Arkansas’ 94-88 second-round win over High Point on Saturday, Acuff had 36 points while hitting 8 of 16 two-pointers, 3 of 6 on 3s – while getting to the line 13 times and making 11 free throws.

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

“Always wanted to be in the big moment,” Acuff said afterward. “Always just thinking 'win.' Whatever I got to do to win that's what I'm going to do.”

Playing in the U17 World Cup during the summer of 2024, when Acuff was playing U18 under Lloyd, Peat said he hasn't played with Acuff but took a recruiting visit with him to Michigan once and is familiar with his game.

"Great player," Peat said. "Very skilled."

Not even a nagging ankle injury has been able to slow Acuff down much this season. While saddled up in a walking boot for two days before Arkansas faced Alabama on Feb. 18, Acuff scored a school-freshman record with 49 points to lead the Razorbacks to a 117-115 win in double overtime. He played all 50 available minutes.

“I said, 'Do you think you might have to miss this game?’" Calipari said. “He said, 'Are you nuts?’ He doesn’t care. Hurt. Whatever it is.”

Calipari said he and Acuff have gone back and forth on the issue, with Calipari saying he finally managed to do “NBA load management” when he sat out Acuff for the Razorbacks' March 7 game at Missouri.

Calipari said he finally told Acuff he needed him to be fresher.

"We needed him in the SEC tournament run to be that guy,” Calipari said. “I'm glad I did it. I took a chance. I said ‘Let us try to win a game without you.'"

It worked well enough. The Razorbacks managed to beat Missouri in overtime without Acuff, and they’ve won five straight since then, in which Acuff has averaged 30.2 points a game.

If the foot, or anything else, still bugs him from time to time, it hardly seems to matter.

“If he's hurt, you won't know,” Calipari said. “Because he doesn't do that.”