Arkansas reveals new additions and wraps up 2024-25 roster

John Calipari’s first roster at Arkansas has been finalized following the formal announcement of the four most recent additions.

Here’s a glance at the most recent additions and the completed scholarship distribution.

Arkansas basketball officially confirmed the additions of four players on Thursday morning, completing the 2024-25 roster. The Razorbacks have added freshman guard Jaden Karuletwa, transfer junior guard Melo Sanchez, graduate transfer guard Kareem Watkins, and freshman guard Ayden Kelley, according to a school announcement.

The announcement did not indicate which players would be on scholarship and which would be real walk-ons, but HawgSports can confirm Sanchez, Karuletwa, and Watkins will be on scholarship, while Kelly is expected to be a true walk-on.

Here’s what the official release had to say about each of the four newest Razorbacks:

“Karuletwa (pronounced Car-RUE-leh-Twah) is a 6-5 wing from Sun Valley, Calif. (Village Christian HS). He was named first team All-Olympic League last season while averaging 14.1 points and 4.6 rebounds and shooting 94% from the free throw line and 49% from 3-point range.

Kelley is a 5-10 guard from Southaven, Miss. (Northpoint Christian School). He averaged 19 points and four assists this past season. He is the son of former Memphis guard Antonio Burks, who played three seasons under Calipari at Memphis (2001-04). Also, Kelley’s stepfather is former Tennessee star point guard Tony Harris.

Sanchez is a 6-4 guard who played the past two seasons at Hawai’I Pacific and is a native of San Diego, Calif. (Veritas Prep). He earned second team All-PacWest in 2024, ranking ninth in the league and leading his team in scoring (14.6 ppg).

He was seventh in NCAA Division II and led the PacWest Conference in 3-point percentage (.461) as a freshman (2022-23) while placing second in the conference in 3-pointers made per game both as a freshman (2.57) and a sophomore (2.52).

Watkins comes to Arkansas after four seasons at Kentucky. The 5-8 guard hails from Camden, N.J. (Kingsway Regional HS) and played in 20 games over his career with four rebounds, four assists and two steals.

He graduated in the Spring of 2024 from Kentucky with a degree in finance and is pursuing a Master’s in Adult and Lifelong Learning at Arkansas. He is the brother of Razorback sophomore guard DJ Wagner as Dajuan Wagner is his stepfather.”

On Tuesday, 2024 three-star guard Casmir Chavis officially committed to the Razorbacks, giving John Calipari a fully loaded team of 13 scholarship players and two true walk-ons. Here’s a look at the modified and finalized 2024-25 Arkansas basketball scholarship distribution.

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