John Calipari has done a complete 180 since leaving the Kentucky Wildcats to become the head coach of their conference rival Arkansas Razorbacks in April.
Calipari earned a reputation as a high-end recruiter at Kentucky, routinely landing top prospects. Yes, he led to the ultimate demise of him with Big Blue Nation. But he apparently learned a valuable lesson from it: limiting the number of freshmen.
Last week, Coach Cal appeared on the Jim Rome show. He talked about his new perspective on how to build a championship-caliber team. Additionally, the face of the Razorbacks’ Division I men’s basketball program cited the importance of having older, experienced players on the roster.
“I can’t recruit seven freshmen on my team,” Calipari told Roma. “I can’t do it anymore because the equipment is too old.”
Considering how the transfer portal and NIL (name, image and likeness) have impacted the college sports landscape, Calipari believes a different approach is necessary.
“My average age on my team last year was 19.4 years old. The teams we were playing against were 24 years old,” Calipari added.
If Arkansas’ corresponding moves since hiring Calipari are any indication, the latter has taken matters into his own hands. He added a star-studded, older group through the transfer portal, led by fifth-year senior Johnell Davis, senior Jonas Aidoo and junior Adou Theiro. For comparison, Kentucky only had two upperclassmen in its rotation in 2023-24.
While this is the opposite of how we’ve seen Calipari operate, he has embraced his new situation in Arkansas with an unexplored strategy. Perhaps that will lead him to return to prominence as a national champion for the first time since he did it with the Wildcats in 2012.
However, Kentucky fans are beside themselves to see that Calipari realized what his Achilles heel was after his departure. On the other hand, those who support the Hogs hope that this awakening will benefit them.
The Razorbacks have the No. 2 class of the 2024 recruiting cycle, according to On3, so Calipari’s efforts are already paying dividends.
Next. John Calipari’s statistic for Arkansas should infuriate Kentucky fans. John Calipari’s statistic for Arkansas should infuriate Kentucky fans. dark
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