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Calipari on Ark. fans’ ovation: ‘Haven’t lost a game’

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Calipari on Ark. fans’ ovation: ‘Haven’t lost a game’


As John Calipari entered Bud Walton Arena for his first game at Arkansas on Friday night, the home crowd erupted as the 1990s Chicago Bulls introduction music played in the background.

Although No. 16 Arkansas’ 85-69 win over No. 1 Kansas was a charity exhibition, the buzz surrounding the coach’s arrival in Fayetteville — after a lengthy stint at Kentucky — was palpable.

But Calipari downplayed Friday’s ovation, which he received from the 19,200 fans who attended the sold-out affair.

“I haven’t lost a game,” he said about the crowd’s favorable reaction.

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Though both teams were short-handed — Tennessee transfer Jonas Aidoo didn’t play for Arkansas, and Hunter Dickinson and Alabama transfer Rylan Griffen were both out for Kansas — Friday marked a new chapter for Calipari and Arkansas. His rocky exit at Kentucky unfolded after he followed a national title run in 2012 and a string of Final Four appearances with multiple first-round exits in the NCAA tournament.

But he regrouped quickly at Arkansas, where five-star prospect Boogie Fland, former Kentucky guard D.J. Wagner and veteran Johnell Davis, a standout for Florida Atlantic in the 2023 Final Four, anchor his new squad.

Wagner and Fland combined to score 46 points against a Kansas team that arrived without two of its best players. But Arkansas has also dealt with multiple injuries — Calipari said his team has been unable to hold full practices for the past two weeks.

“We’ve played against [graduate assistants],” Calipari said after the game, which helped raise money for a pair of children’s hospitals in the teams’ respective communities.

Although his Kansas team struggled (7-for-23 from beyond the arc) in the four-quarter exhibition, Jayhawks coach Bill Self said he was not concerned about the result because of his team’s personnel challenges.

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But he added he was not sure he would face a better backcourt this season than the one Arkansas boasts. He also said Calipari’s 2024-25 Razorbacks might comprise one of the most talented teams of his career.

“I actually think this team is better than some of the ones he’s had at Kentucky,” Self said. “We’ve played them at least every other year for the last 10 years. There were a couple of [Kentucky] teams that were elite, elite, elite. This team, to me, has a chance to be terrific and maybe more talented than some of the teams that [Calipari] had at Kentucky. Not all of them, but some of them. I think they have a real chance.”

Calipari said that analysis might be premature.

“I actually think this team is better than some of the ones he’s had at Kentucky. … There were a couple of [Kentucky] teams that were elite, elite, elite. This team, to me, has a chance to be terrific and maybe more talented than some of the teams that [Calipari] had at Kentucky. Not all of them, but some of them.”

Kansas coach Bill Self

“That’s very early to make that statement,” he said in response to Self’s comments. “Very early to make that statement.”

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But the energy in the crowd, and the promise within the roster, was clear Friday, with a victory over the No. 1 team in America in his first game as the new Arkansas head coach.

“All I know is when you have really good guards, you usually have a really good team,” Calipari said.



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Arkansas

No. 1 Arkansas leads SEC Indoor after first day finals

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No. 1 Arkansas leads SEC Indoor after first day finals



COLLEGE STATION – A victory in the 5,000m by Nick Busienei and third place in the distance medley relay had No. 1 Arkansas leading the team score with 18 points on the first day of the SEC Indoor Championships.

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The Razorbacks produced 12 of those points in the 5,000m as Nick Busienei won the race in a meet record of 13;31.86, which ranks him No. 7 on the UA all-time list. Busienei bettered the meet record of 13:37.52 set by Razorback Patrick Kiprop in 2025.

James Sankei added two more points in placing seventh with a time of 13:44.57.

Dating back to 1992 when Arkansas competed in its first SEC Indoor meet, Busienei claimed the 21st title for the program and is the 14th Razorback to win the indoor 5,000m.

Six more points were added in the distance medley relay as Arkansas posted a time of 9:30.84 from the foursome of Owan Logorodi (2:58.46), Zyaire Nuriddin (46.51), Julian Carter (1:49.10), and Brian Masai (3:56.77).

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South Carolina won the race in 9:30.08 with Ole Miss runner-up in 9:30.34. Florida originally placed third in 9:30.37 but was disqualified for spiking the baton at the conclusion of the race.

Jelani Watkins led the Razorback crew in the 200m prelims as three Arkansas sprinters advanced to the final. Watkins produced an indoor career best of 20.42 rank second overall to a 20.38 by Florida’s Wayna McCoy. Watkins remains No. 2 on the UA all-time list as he improved his previous time of 20.43.

Dapriest Hogans followed with a 20.63 that equaled his career best and his No. 8 ranking on the UA all-time list. Tevijon Williams clocked 20.65 to reach the final where 20.71 was the cutoff time. Jamarion Stubbs ran 20.87 in his prelim heat.

Cooper Williams completed the first day of the heptathlon in sixth place with 2,862 points. He started with a 7.43 in the 60m (736), then added a 21-9.5 (6.64) long jump (729). In the shot put, a mark of 36-8.25 (11.18) picked up 557 points. Williams wrapped up day one by topping the field in the high jump with a clearance of 6-8.25 for 840 points.

Link Lindsey placed 15 in the long jump with a mark of 23-6.75 (7.18).

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The wall goes back up: Arkansas embraces defiant isolation

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The wall goes back up: Arkansas embraces defiant isolation


“Arkansans have been made better economically, intellectually and socially by letting go of the ‘terrified truculence’ toward outsiders in recent decades. Sadly, as we’ve experienced this sad winter, all signs are that many similar seasons of defiant isolation are in our state’s future,” writes political scholar Jay Barth.



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Man arrested in Arkansas connected to Jan. 2026 fatal hit-and-run in Dallas

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Man arrested in Arkansas connected to Jan. 2026 fatal hit-and-run in Dallas


Authorities in Arkansas have arrested a man accused of being behind the wheel during a January car crash that left one man dead.

Suspect arrested in Arkansas for Dallas hit-and-run

What we know:

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U.S. Marshals tracked down 22-year-old Enrique Hernandez in De Queen, a southwest Arkansas town about three hours away from Dallas and an hour north of Texarkana.

Hernandez has been charged with collision involving death, a second-degree felony, in connection with the case. He is currently being held in an Arkansas jail before he is transferred to a jail in Dallas County.

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What we don’t know:

Dallas police haven’t said if the suspect has any ties to the victim or the area of Arkansas where he was arrested.

The backstory:

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The fatal hit-and-run occurred around 3 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 11 near W. Davis St. and N. Westmoreland Dr. in Dallas.

26-year-old Johnathan Rodriguez was dropped off by friends outside his Dallas neighborhood early Sunday morning after celebrating his birthday.

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Surveillance video shows Rodriguez in the media area of the road when a dark-colored SUV hits him and drives away.

Rodriguez was left with severe head trauma, later dying from his injuries.

A bittersweet victory for the family

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What they’re saying:

John Rodriguez, the victim’s father, struggled to find the words to describe the news he received.

“It’s not going to bring him back, bring my son back,” Rodriguez told FOX 4’s Peyton Yager. “It hurts every day, every minute. I wake up every morning, and he is not here. We are really going to miss him.”

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The Rodriguez family worked with police to help find their son’s killer. They found more surveillance video near the scene of the accident that helped authorities find and arrest Hernandez in Arkansas.

“We are going to fight for justice. Long live Johnny, and we are going to keep on fighting,” Rodriguez said.

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The Source: Information in this story came from current and previous FOX 4 reporting.

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