Darius Acuff Jr. Hyped By John Calipari, NBA Teams 'Will Regret' Passing on Him in 2026 Draft

Arkansas' Darius Acuff Jr. had an outstanding freshman season, but hasn't gotten the same draft hype as some of the other players in his class.

His head coach, John Calipari, revealed that Acuff played through a toe injury late in the season and said teams will "regret" not taking him in the draft.

"Here's a kid that's playing hurt, can play on the ball, can play off the ball. They talk about X, Y, Z, but this guy is real," Calipari said on First Take (2:50 mark). "I think if you pass on him as an NBA franchise, you will look back and say, 'What were we thinking?' You will regret it."

Acuff, the SEC Player of the Year and a consensus All-American, put up 23.5 points, 6.4 assists and 3.1 boards per game this year, helping the Razorbacks reach the Sweet 16.

Acuff is currently projected to go fifth overall in the latest mock draft from Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman.

The top four in this year's draft class are widely considered to be BYU's AJ Dybantsa, Duke's Cameron Boozer, Kansas' Darryn Peterson and North Carolina's Caleb Wilson. Acuff, according to Calipari, is right on the same level as those standouts.