BREAKING NEWS: The Head Coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks has terminated his employment with the team today….
Arkansas men’s basketball will reportedly face Central Arkansas in North Little Rock during the 2024-25 season on a date to be announced.
Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports first reported the news, citing a source.
It is the fifth nonconference game to be reported for the Razorbacks. Arkansas is also set to face Illinois on Thanksgiving in Kansas City; at Miami in the ACC/SEC Challenge on Dec. 3; Michigan on Dec. 10 at Madison Square Garden in New York City; and Oakland in a guarantee game Dec. 30 at Bud Walton Arena.
The trip to Miami is the only one to be confirmed by Arkansas.
It would be the third time the Razorbacks and Bears have played and the first since 2021.
Arkansas won the previous two games, which were both in Fayetteville.
The Razorbacks defeated Central Arkansas 97-60 in 2021 and 100-75 in 2020.
The Bears finished 9-23 last season and failed to qualify for the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament.
They fired coach Anthony Boone and replaced him with John Shulman, who coached at Division II Alabama-Huntsville from 2019-24.
Central Arkansas was hit by the transfer portal following Boone’s dismissal.
The Bears lost Bentonville native Tucker Anderson (Utah State), Carl Daugherty (California-Davis) and Camren Hunter (Wisconsin).
Anderson was ASUN Freshman of the Year.
UCA has largely retooled its roster with freshmen — Tyler Lee, Layne Taylor (Farmington), Ty Robinson (Lake Hamilton) and Owen Dehrmann (Bentonville).
San Jose State transfer Diogo Seixas and Johns Hopkins (D-III) transfer Brayden Fagbemi are some of the Bears’ most notable additions this offseason.
Arkansas enters the new season under new coach John Calipari with a nearly entirely new roster than what it had in former coach Eric Musselman’s final season.
Trevon Brazile and walk-on Lawson Blake are the only returners from last year’s team.
They will be joined by transfers transfers Zvonimir Ivisic (Kentucky), Jonas Aidoo (Tennessee), Johnell Davis (Florida Atlantic), Adou Thiero (Kentucky) and DJ Wagner (Kentucky), and freshmen Karter Knox, Johnuel “Boogie” Fland and Billy Richmond.
