John Calipari hilariously questions Kings guard Darius Acuff Jr.’s effort

The Sacramento Kings are hoping that they secured their next franchise player on Tuesday night when they took Arkansas point guard Darius Acuff Jr. with the No. 7 overall pick in the NBA Draft. Acuff was one of the best players in all of college hoops a season ago and was one of the best offensive prospects in the whole draft this year, which will give Kings fans some hope heading into 2026-27.

Arkansas head coach John Calipari was at the NBA Draft to celebrate the selection of one of his best players as a head coach, and he didn’t have to wait very long to do it. But Cal has always been known to give his guys a little bit of grief when he gets the chance, and he didn’t hesitate to do that either.

On Thursday’s episode of Run It Back, Calipari joked about Acuff’s effort during his lone college season in response to his gaudy numbers at the NBA Draft Combine.

Coach Cal has a bone to pick with former Arkansas Razorback, Darius Acuff Jr.

"In the NBA Draft Combine, he was the fastest player. Why the sh*t didn't you run like that for me?"@CoachCalArk | @MichelleDBeadle | @boogiecousins | @ChandlerParsons | @TeamLou23 pic.twitter.com/tRv9KyBZoW

— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) June 25, 2026

“In the combine, he was the fastest player,” Calipari said. “Why the s**t didn’t you run like that for me? You didn’t run that fast!”

All jokes aside, Acuff’s effort on the defensive end brought a lot of questions during the pre-draft process, and that was a big reason why he was not taken until the No. 7 pick. The star guard is one of the worst defenders in this class, and a lot of that comes down to both effort and focus.

It’s easy to dismiss those concerns from Acuff’s perspective given the monstrous burden that he was forced to carry on the offensive end for the Razorbacks. However, it will be something to watch for Acuff during his rookie season.

Acuff will have a chip on his shoulder this season and beyond after being drafted behind both Keaton Wagler and Mikel Brown Jr. While that didn’t come as a huge shock, there was an argument to be made to take Acuff ahead of both of them, so he will surely be using that as motivation as he gets his NBA career underway in Sacramento.

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