Arkansas officially announces four new additions to Razorback roster

Arkansas is beginning to round out their first roster for their debut season under John Calipari.

On Thursday, the Razorbacks announced the additions of four new members to their basketball team. They did so in an official press release as well as social media posts of the new quartet of ‘Hogs.

Adding four new Hogs to the squad 🐗🐗🐗🐗 pic.twitter.com/Trve0VX7rD

— Arkansas Razorbacks Men’s Basketball 🐗 (@RazorbackMBB) July 11, 2024

The four signees in Fayetteville are Jaden Karuletwa, Ayden Kelley, Emilio ‘Melo’ Sanchez, and Kareem Watkins.

Sanchez is the most experienced of the group having spent the past two seasons at Hawaii Pacific in DII. His pair of underclassmen years there saw him finish top-two in scoring on their team at 14.5 points in 34.4 minutes per game. Much of that came from his efficiency at the three-point line as he shot 40.4% en route to making 147 total

Watkins also has college experience, specifically under Calipari, as he follows him from Kentucky. He walked-on in Lexington where he appeared in 20 games in closing minutes for the Wildcats. In total, he posted four assists, rebounds, and turnovers apiece along with a pair of steals while never scoring. He graduated from there this past spring and will now join his half brother, DJ Wagner, at Arkansas.

Karuletwa and Kelley both arrive from out of high school and make it six freshmen for the Razorbacks. That total moved to four earlier this week following Wednesday’s commitment from Casmir Chavis.

Karuletwa arrives from Sun Valley, California where he played at Village Christian High School and previously at Santa Clara Christian. He scored over 1,000 points in his career as he averaged 14.1 points and 4.6 rebounds as a senior.

As for Kelley, he’s a native of Southaven, Mississippi where he played at Northpoint Christian School. As a senior, he posted 19 points, four rebounds, and four assists. He’s also another player with Calipari connections as his father, Antonio Burks, played for him at Memphis in the early 2000s.

These four will now join the nine players already on the roster at Arkansas. They have the previously mentioned four freshman with Chavis along with Boogie Fland, Karter Knox, and Billy Richmond. They’re then paired with a Top-30 portal class with five additions in Johnell Davis (FAU), Jonas Aidoo (Tennessee), and a trio from Kentucky in Wagner along with Adou Thiero and Zvonimir Ivisic.

With 13 players signed on, Arkansas is all but done with their roster for 2024-25. It’s now about preparing for the rest of the summer and exiting the offseason being ready to start Calipari’s tenure well with the ‘Hogs.