John Calipari retains Razorback legend Ronnie Brewer Jr. to shape Arkansas' future stars

On Monday, the Arkansas Razorbacks announced that coach John Calipari retained Ronnie Brewer Jr. as the director of student-athlete development on his new staff for the upcoming season. Brewer formerly served as an assistant coach on Eric Musselman's staff. He also worked as the recruiting coordinator.

In his new role, Brewer Jr. will work closely with the players for their personal and professional development.

Along with Ronnie Brewer Jr., John Calipari has also retained Riley Hall, who has been associated with the team for over 12 years and has risen through the ranks. He will be promoted to director of basketball operations.

Coach Calipari has built his coaching staff with some of Musselman's remaining members, along with those he brought from Kentucky, like Kenny Payne, Chuck Martin, Brad Calipari and Tyler Ulis.

Ronnie Brewer Jr. played three seasons with the Razorbacks, from 2003 to 2006, averaging 18.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 2.6 steals and 0.5 blocks.

Brewer Jr. was picked 14th overall in the 2006 NBA draft by the Utah Jazz. He played 10 seasons in the NBA before retiring. In 2022, he was part of the recruiting team that helped Arkansas grab the No. 2 ranked recruiting class with Anthony Black, Nick Smith and Jordan Walsh.

John Calipari reveals his plans for the upcoming season

Before joining the Razorbacks, John Calipari coached the Kentucky Wildcats from 2009–24. In recent years, Kentucky's NCAA Tournament runs have been stopped by lower-ranked teams led by graduate senior players. It seems Calipari has finally come up with a plan to address this issue with the Razorbacks.

"The lesson was you can't do this now with seven freshmen," he said (via ESPN). "You just can't. You're going to hit a team that's 25 years old on average, one was 26, and that team is physically going to get you.

"And so now we have a couple transfers that are older, some kids that transferred from Kentucky that went through it, and they're a year older, and some freshmen."

The current roster at Arkansas is a mix of John Calipari's former players like DJ Wagner, Adou Thiero and Zvonimir Ivisic, along with transfer portal additions like Johnell Davis and Jonas Aidoo.

Calipari's previously committed players to Kentucky flipped their decisions and have followed him to Fayetteville. This includes Boogie Fland, Karter Knox and Billy Richmond.

What are your predictions for the upcoming season? Let us know in the comment section below.