First-year Arkansas head coach John Calipari has a squad of 13 newcomers, three of whom followed him from Kentucky — forward Adou Thiero, guard DJ Wagner and center Zvonimir Ivisic.
As part of HawgBeat's Hoop Hogs roster profile series, we’ll look closely at Thiero, who accompanied Calipari to SEC Media Day in Birmingham, Alabama, on Oct. 15.
Thiero was a bit of a late bloomer in high school. As a senior, he was a three-star prospect who stood 6-foot-5 and weighed 190 pounds. He chose Kentucky over offers from Pittsburgh, Duquesne, Indiana, Cincinnati and others, likely because — as his head coach said last week — Thiero had always wanted to play for Calipari.
"Adou wanted to play for me when he was in ninth grade and he was 5'11"," Calipari said from the stage at SEC Media Day. "I looked at his dad and I said -- dad was 6'9" — and now all of a sudden he's grown into his dad. You see him now, and you're like, wow. But it took him time. He was a three-star player coming out of high school and grew, and now he's growing into his game."
When he got to Kentucky, Thiero had to fight for playing time as a freshman. He played an average of 9.5 minutes per game, appeared in only 20 games and didn't start any of them.
Thiero continued to grow into a college athlete's body, though, and saw a big jump as a sophomore. He started 19 games and appeared in 25 total, but it's worth noting that he missed seven consecutive games from Dec. 29, 2023, to Jan. 23, 2024, with an injury.
In the exhibition win over Kansas, Thiero scored two points and brought down five rebounds to go with one steal in 17 minutes.
Here's a closer look at what Thiero brings to the table for the Hogs, where he needs to improve and how he fits into the rotation this season...
