Arkansas basketball is adding size sooner than anyone expected.
Big man Caleb Ourigou announced Tuesday that he’s reclassifying to the 2026 class, meaning he’ll join the Razorbacks roster for the 2026-27 season rather than waiting an extra year.
Ourigou had committed to the Hogs just a week before this reclassification news broke.
Once he picked Arkansas, most people around the program expected him to speed up his timeline. He made it official only after finishing out his summer schedule.
That timing wasn’t an accident. Ourigou held off on reclassifying until after the Nike EYBL’s Peach Jam Invitational wrapped up.
Had he made the move sooner, tournament rules would’ve kept him off the court for that event, and he didn’t want to miss it given the level of competition there.
Thompson made same move first
Ourigou isn’t the only Arkansas piece to speed things up this summer.
Fellow commit and Peach Jam participant Davion Thompson reclassified to 2026 just days earlier, on a Friday, and he’ll also suit up for the Hogs next season.
Between the two of them, Calipari’s roster gets an immediate lift in size and depth up front.
Ourigou brings a physical style and strong rebounding numbers, areas where a young roster can always use more help.
Over five games at Peach Jam, Ourigou put up 6.7 points and 9.8 rebounds a game, numbers that held up even with his Rens squad missing five-star wing Anderson Diaz for stretches of the event.
Playing nearly 30 minutes a night, he also shot better than 59% from the field.
A fast rise through recruiting cycle
Those Peach Jam numbers came on the heels of an even stronger stretch earlier in the summer. At the EYBL’s Memphis Session II, with Arkansas coaches watching,
Ourigou averaged better than 12 points a game on more than 62% shooting, plus double-digit rebounds and multiple blocks a night.
That run of games is a big reason Ourigou landed offers well beyond Arkansas, including from Auburn, BYU, UConn, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Miami, Michigan, Missouri, Tennessee and Virginia.
He ultimately chose the Razorbacks after Arkansas extended an offer and hosted him on a visit to Fayetteville, Arkansas, earlier this summer.
With Ourigou and Thompson both eligible for 2026-27, Arkansas basketball heads into the season with more length, more rebounding and more experience than originally planned for this group.
Key takeaways
- Caleb Ourigou reclassified to 2026 right after finishing his Peach Jam run with the Rens
- He joins fellow reclassified commit Davion Thompson, giving Arkansas two extra pieces for 2026-27
- His summer performances across EYBL sessions helped fuel a fast rise up the recruiting rankings
