John Calipari is no stranger to pursuing international talent, and a young standout playing for Finland at EuroBasket 2025 is the latest on his radar.
Who Is John Calipari’s Target at EuroBasket 2025?
Finland’s Miikka Muurinen is the latest to catch Calipari’s eye. Currently competing at EuroBasket 2025, Muurinen is an elite 2026 prospect with offers from several top schools, including Arkansas.
The Finnish forward took an official visit to Arkansas in September 2024 after announcing that the Razorbacks were in his top seven schools. The other six are Duke, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, NC State, and Indiana.
Instead of playing a set travel ball schedule this summer, Muurinen attended various events to prepare for EuroBasket and the Euro Cup.
According to a report by Sports Illustrated, Calipari may send Arkansas associate head coach Chin Coleman to Europe to watch Muurinen and other elite European prospects at these events.
Before Arkansas, Muurinen also went on official visits to Utah and Michigan. Sports Illustrated reported that Arkansas stood out the most to him.
Recruiting analyst Jamie Shaw has predicted that NC State and Indiana lead the race for the 2026 prospect, though Arkansas remains a strong contender. According to Shaw, Muurinen is expected to start focusing on his recruitment after EuroBasket and is in no rush to commit.
How Is Miikka Muurinen Doing at EuroBasket 2025?
In Finland’s close win over Sweden on Wednesday, Muurinen picked his moment and stepped up when needed.
Trailing by one point in front of a crowd of 12,000 at Nokia Arena, Muurinen attempted a 3-pointer with a little over five minutes left. He grabbed his own rebound and scored on a layup to put Finland back in front within 30 seconds.
He scored again in the next minute, helping seal a 93-90 win over Sweden.
Muurinen made his presence felt in the next game, too. He shined on the defensive end against Great Britain, forcing the Brits into difficult offensive sets. A dunk, in particular, went viral on social media, drawing comparisons from fans to Michael Jordan and Dwight Howard.
“It was a nice dunk. That forward lean is just sick looking,” one fan wrote on Reddit. “Jordan and Dwight immediately flashed back in my mind. Not saying it was as good as those, but that lean definitely made me think of those.”
“He is definitely going to the NBA after this performance,” said a fan on EuroBasket’s Instagram under a slow-motion version of the dunk.
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“This young man will be special. I saw what he did at the end of the Sweden vs Finland game,” said another. A third wrote, “Look at the young man after the dunk. Head down. Fists clenched. No nonsense trash talk, no celebration. Just focus. Killer mode loading.”
According to NBA Draft expert Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report, Muurinen is projected to be the No. 12 pick in 2027.
