Adou Thiero Commits to John Calipari, Arkansas in Transfer Portal After Kentucky Exit

Former Kentucky forward Adou Thiero committed to Arkansas, according to Joe Tipton of On3.

Thiero entered the transfer portal in March before coach John Calipari announced his intention to leave the Wildcats. Now, he'll be reuniting with Calipari in Fayetteville

As a sophomore at UK, he averaged 7.2 points and 5.0 rebounds in 21.4 minutes per game.

The Athletic's Sam Vecenie called Thiero "one of the few Wildcats this year to consistently bring value on the defensive end."

"He rotated around the court with disruptive intent and attacked everything that went up on the glass," Vecenie wrote. "On the offensive end, his impact was more limited, but he consistently did all of the little things required."

In terms of the team he inherited, Calipari told reporters during his introductory press conference he pretty much had a blank slate. So many players from the 2023-24 had either graduated, declared for the 2024 NBA draft, or entered the portal.

That raised the question of how many underclassmen and 2024 recruits Coach Cal might be able to poach from his former employer.

Thiero is the second former Kentucky player to pledge his future to the Razorbacks after Zvonimir Ivišić announced in April he's making the trip south. Karter Knox, Billy Richmond and Boogie Fland were all Kentucky commits who reversed course and are now committed to the Razorbacks as well.

Calipari has also added former FAU guard Johnell Davis and former Tennessee center Jonas Aidoo out of the transfer portal.

There's no question the 65-year-old and his staff have done a great job to fill out their squad in a relatively short amount of time. Expectations are still likely to remain somewhat tempered in his first season due to the massive turnover within the Razorbacks.

In terms of the long-term goal of making Arkansas a Final Four team again, Calipari is arguably ahead of schedule so far.