John Calipari unleashed Darius Acuff by taking page out of NBA book
John Calipari wanted to rest Arkansas basketball star Darius Acuff Jr. before the postseason. It resulted in a hot streak entering March Madness.
PORTLAND, OR – Not long after losing a double overtime thriller to Alabama on Feb. 18, the battle between Arkansas coach John Calipari and Darius Acuff Jr. began.
Acuff, the Razorbacks star freshman guard, scored 49 points against the Crimson Tide, all while dealing with an ankle injury that required him to wear a boot when he wasn’t playing. Given the performance he had in 50 minutes of action, Calipari suggested sitting out the next game against Missouri. That didn’t sit well with Acuff.
“We lost, I'm not sitting out,” he told his coach. Bold predictions: March Madness top upset picks, surprises, sleepers More: March Madness a stage for 3-way race for NBA draft's No. 1 pick Thus began the weeklong contest between a coach desperate to get his leading scorer off his legs and a player adamant on not missing anything.
The tug-of-war finally swayed in Calipari’s favor on the final week of the regular season, getting Acuff to sit out the finale against Missouri. Even then, “we had to go back and forth,” Calipari said. While Acuff didn't want to miss a thing, Calipari was thinking of the big picture.