Hometown Hog: Isaiah Sealy’s Journey to Arkansas

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) – On November 16th, 2025 4-star prospect Isaiah Sealy out of Springdale signed with the Arkansas men’s basketball team.

His goal with the Hogs next year is a simple one.

“The natty is my goal for sure, I know Cal wants to get a lot of guys to the league, that’s definitely my goal for life for sure, but next year my goal is definitely to win the natty,” Sealy said.

His love for basketball started at a very young age.

“Right out of college I worked at a gym, and he would be in there in the stroller, from there to running around, to running around to dribbling around, dribbling around to shooting around.” Oscar Sealy, Isaiah’s father, said.

“You know, even if it was just chilling on my phone on the gym, I’ve always just been in here, just chilling, just always been working out with my dad,” Isaiah said.

As Isaiah began to grow, so did his work ethic and his requests for his dad.

“I would wake up with my big cousin and workout with him in the morning before school during middle school all the time, and my dad he was like ‘ughhh’, super tired in the morning, he ain’t want to take us,” Isaiah said.

“I’m not a morning person, I would hate getting up at 6, but you know you do it as a father, you get up and go to the gym, 6’o clock in the morning, 5:30, and now it got to the point to where he’s got his car, he’s old enough, I wake up and he’s gone,” Oscar said.

When his dad became as assistant coach with the Springdale basketball team, it can be difficult for him to walk the line between being a parent and coach.

“Man it sucks sometimes, because you still have to be a coach here and then we get home and its like oh well you know I meant everything I said there, but I’m in dad mode now, but it’s a blessing for me man to be able to take this journey with him,” Oscar said.

Through it all, the early mornings very much paid off.

Isaiah averaged 28 points a game as a junior, and is a top 100 recruit across the board and yet, despite Coach Calipari’s reputation as the “greatest recruiter of all time,” Sealy’s perspective remained mature and grounded, focused mainly on fit within the program.

“To be honest with you, I’m not into all that, i kind of knew what Cal was thinking with his recruiting of me, I’m an Arkansas kid, I’m a hometown kid, down the street from Fayetteville, I know what he does with freshman and pros,” Isaiah said.

From growing up 20 minutes down the road to suiting up officially in Razorback red, it’s a full circle moment for the Sealy family and for Isaiah, his dad has been there every step of the way.

“Man, I can’t even explain it for real, he’s always been there by my side, training me, working me out, being there for me off the court, it’s really big for him to see me go play at college now,” Isaiah said.