“This isn’t easy for me, for our team, for our coaches, for me, it is what it is,” said John Calipari after Arkansas’ latest conference loss to Florida. The veteran coach has turned around three previous teams from nothing to everything – UMass, Memphis, and Kentucky. Sure, they were never smooth-sailing rides but then college basketball is not supposed to be. Nevertheless, the situation seems especially dire at Fayetteville this season. Some ask, does the answer lie with someone who considered the transfer portal last offseason?

No Calipari team has gone 0-3 in the conference since 1988’s UMass. Then, the 65-year-old coach was still learning the ropes. 37 year later, fans ask, what’s his excuse? After losing a tough 71-63 game to the Gators, Calipari talked about changing his lineup. Discussing exactly that, John Nabors on Locked on Razorbacks discusses with Curt Wilkerson the possibility of Trevon Brazile as a starter. “I know he’s capable. Freak athlete. We’ve seen some good times.”

In the offseason, Brazile had announced he would be going into the transfer portal and went through the NBA Draft Combine and pre-draft process. But in June, it was reported that he had withdrawn his name from every consideration and was returning to Arkansas for his third year. Back then, Nabors had been intrigued, “What type of role is he gonna play? I’ve been really impressed by his energy and hustle but also his efficiency. I felt so many times last year, if he got the ball just with any split second of an open three, he was gonna take it.”

However, Brazile has seen less time on court so far this season. “This year he really hasn’t done a whole lot of that. It just seems like he has a role, even though it may be minor,” points out Nabors. Even though he went through a leg injury in November, it was nothing serious as the junior came back in full health.

Stating how Brazile has embraced what coaches have asked him to do, be it being more aggressive, willing to play physically, do the dirty work on the floor, Wilkerson says it’s time for him to be rewarded by John Calipari. “I think Trevon should be starting. You’ve lost three SEC games in a row. Cal has been flirting with the idea of playing a bigger lineup or switching things up. You gotta make some kind of tweaks there. I think the easy answer for me is to insert him and his energy that should be contagious on to the floor. He’s earned the right to be a little more aggressive with his offense.”

In the game against Florida, Brazile played a season-high 27 minutes, scoring 7 points, grabbing 6 rebounds and blocking 2 shots. This performance further raised questions of why exactly has Calipari been depending on freshman Boogie Fland and the rest who are struggling lately. Why not utilize his bench more?

Well, it looks like the coach has finally decided to do something about it.

John Calipari questions if he’s playing the right people

It was a mixture of things that went wrong vs. Florida on Saturday. After the game, John Calipari stressed how the team needed to play with more emotion, more with the spirit of team play, and most importantly, do their jobs right.

“Top 10 team, hold them to 39% from the floor, 28% from the three, out rebound us by 10. A bunch of those were at the end of the game, offensive rebounds. We miss a bunch of free throws, miss a bunch of layups, and we still have a chance, and then we start missing free throws. So I gotta look and say, Are we playing the right people? Are we playing the right way?” coach Calipari asked.

Out of the top 25 now, Arkansas faces another challenge on the road vs. LSU next. Changes need to come in hard and fast and the first order of business is the lineup. As Nabors and Wilkerson suggested, might Trevon Brazile help as a starter rather than coming off the bench for twenty minutes or so later on?