The John Calipari effect was on display Monday when a top recruit decommitted from Kentucky to then commit to Arkansas, where Calipari is now the head coach.
Four-star recruit Karter Knox is following Calipari to Fayetteville after visiting the campus on an official visit.
“Throughout my whole recruiting process, Coach Cal always said he wants to make me a pro, and I trust that he will do that for me at Arkansas,” Knox told ESPN. “I also have a great relationship with Coach Kenny Payne, so getting to play for two coaches I admire is a dream come true. I’m looking forward to getting there, getting to work and bringing a winning mentality to Fayetteville.”
Payne, the former Louisville head coach, will be joining Calipari’s staff in Arkansas for next season.
Knox was ranked No. 26 by ESPN and the On3 Industry Ranking had him rated as the No. 24 overall prospect.
The soon-to-be college baller spent the past season in the Overtime Elite League, where he averaged 22.2 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.6 assists while averaging 30 minutes per game.
This likely won’t be the last of one of Calipari’s recruits that jumps ship to follow him to Arkansas.
Calipari departed the University of Kentucky for the Razorbacks earlier this month after word leaked over the Final Four weekend that Arkansas and Calipari were in talks.
In a video posted to social media announcing his departure for Arkansas, Calipari said the Kentucky program needed a new voice to lead it.
“Anybody in our profession looks at the University of Kentucky in basketball and says, ‘That is the bluest of blue,’” he said. “The last few weeks we have come to realize that this program probably needs to hear another voice, that the university as a whole has to have another voice giving guidance about this program that they hear, and the fans need to hear another voice.”
