Latest news with #JohnCalipari
New York Times
18-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
John Calipari's view of the transfer portal lets coaches off the hook for athlete adversity
John Calipari's humanity emerged in the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary 'One and Not Done,' a 2017 production that came at the height of his cartoon villain-ishness and illustrated the bonds he made with several Kentucky players who were in his program for only a year before heading to the NBA. This comes to mind after a doozy of a comment from Calipari this week at Little Rock's Rotary Club 99 about the transfer portal and its potential for adverse effects on the mental health of those who use it. Advertisement 'If a kid transfers four times, is he gonna graduate from that school? There's no way,' Calipari said, as shared on X in a video by KATV. 'You can't graduate. So now you're going to be done playing, without a college degree. You have no ties to the last school you went to, where they feel that, 'You're from Arkansas, you played here, we're here, you're gonna have opportunity …' That's done. You're going to be offered $55,000 in your first job, and you're like, 'What, $55,000? Do I have to show up? You got me an apartment, right, or a car?' 'I'm worried about mental health. Mental health. Look, I've been poor, and you know what's worse than being poor? Coming across some money and then being poor again. That's the worst.' Coach Cal at Little Rock's Rotary club 99 on thebiggest issue with Major College Athletics…The transfer portal. Great stuff from Coach. — Steve Sullivan (@sully7777) July 15, 2025 First of all, I think most people on this planet would give 'having money at any point' a whirl over the bliss of perpetual poverty. But the Calipari words that stick out the most for me? 'That's done.' The guys who played one year for Kentucky, or wherever, and went pro are welcomed back forever. Part of the crew. Connections. Job opportunities. Drinks on the house. And that year was all it took to carry on a close personal friendship with the coach. The guys who played one year or more for Arkansas, or wherever, and transferred to another school that is paying more? Traitors. No longer welcome. Rolodex is closed to them, and it's a cash bar. It matters not how much they gave to the program, nor the relationships they built, nor the fact that both scenarios involve financial betterment. This act of betrayal cannot be forgiven. Fans can feel this way. Coaches can't. Or shouldn't. But too many do. Even though many of them, Calipari without question, know well what it's like to leave a place for another that is paying more. All of them have the opportunity. Advertisement Another thing that came to mind courtesy of Cal's commentary: a conversation I had last year with a Power 4 head football coach about a prominent player who had left his program for another school and came back during spring ball. He was hanging out with former teammates who were close friends. The coach asked him what he was doing there. It's not like he was removed from the premises or anything, and it's not like he needed that coach's help — he's in the NFL now. But what if he did need help? I would argue a coach has a responsibility to be available for an athlete once that athlete decides to join that coach's program, and thereafter, if the worst thing the athlete did was depart for a better financial opportunity. I'd argue that turning your back on someone, as a full-grown adult, for something they did when they were 19 is pretty gross. And worth using against you. I agree with a lot of what Calipari said, by the way. And he's far from alone. Changing schools year after year for incremental financial gain can be detrimental, both in terms of education and in terms of not having a home base — the one doing the transferring may not know where to turn. These are decisions more likely to be made by a 19-year-old, especially if that 19-year-old doesn't have sound advice coming from their camp. And that can't be good for mental health, and I don't doubt Calipari cares about mental health. I actually have my doubts he'd delete the number of a kid who left his program. There's no question others would and do. Which brings us back to the same place we always find ourselves when we start talking about the economics of college athletics. These are laborers. They should have protections, and if there's going to be a cap on their pay and a limit on their movement, they must be able to bargain for that collectively. Anyone who says that can't be figured out — including some proponents of the latest legislative attempt to provide college athletics with an antitrust exemption — is either stupid or lying.
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Kentucky basketball still winning on recruiting trail with Mark Pope's deliberate approach
Recruiting college basketball transformed with name, image and likeness and now direct payments from schools where more decisions are made based on dollar signs than relationships. Kentucky basketball coach Mark Pope is proving with his approach that there's still room for reason. His unique pitch to players allows him to be much more tactical about whom he pursues. Advertisement He's not producing the assembly line of one-and-dones that was the norm for 15 seasons under former coach John Calipari. To the contrary, Pope's roster construction is like upgrading to automated robots that are much more precise. Pope's philosophy produced what 247 Sports ranked as the No. 4 overall recruiting class for 2025 nationally and the fifth-best transfer class, respectively. (For those keeping score, Arkansas ranked sixth overall.) Sure, UK has the resources to make an intriguing monetary pitch to any player, but if it were just about having money to throw around, a place like Texas A&M would be a championship factory even in hoops. Pope makes it about the why. Advertisement Denzel Aberdeen was valued by a lot of high-major schools. The reserve guard, who won the 2025 national title with Florida, could have stayed put anticipating a larger role with the Gators after the graduation of Walter Clayton Jr. and Alijah Martin. Aberdeen's average doubled to 14.4 points per game in the five starts he made due to injuries last season. The potential was there for him to be a featured guard. Instead, he was convinced that joining UK was the best fit for him, even though his role could end up being similar to what he did last season at Florida. Aberdeen knew the moment he got off a Zoom call with Pope. 'It was definitely unique; our phone call lasted about three hours,' Aberdeen said. Advertisement Imagine being intrigued, entertained and engaged to the point of staying on a call for three hours. Pope was able to keep him interested because of what he presented. He used analytical charts breaking down Aberdeen's shooting to display the percentages of where he was best and where he could be better. They went over game highlights where Pope showed how Aberdeen would fit into the Cats offensively. He broke down defensive clips of how Aberdeen could get better using his chest more to stop opponents driving instead of reaching with his hands. He challenged Aberdeen, who averaged 1.7 rebounds last season, in explaining how he could improve as a rebounder, too. By the time they got off, Aberdeen had heard enough. He said he was considering four other schools, but Pope's presentation was so thorough he didn't take another call. Advertisement 'I called my dad like 20 minutes after like, 'Yeah, Dad, this is probably the place to go,'' Aberdeen said. Mouhamed Dioubate, a transfer from Alabama, had a similar interaction with Pope over his Zoom calls. The 6-foot-7 forward said he was already leaning UK but got the confirmation once they spoke. 'It didn't take much; it just took what I felt like I needed to hear,' Dioubate said. What he needed to hear was the right plan. Over the course of two calls, Dioubate said Pope ironed out what he envisioned the future would be like. In signing Aberdeen and Dioubate, the Cats filled a need for physical and versatile defensive players. That was an area of weakness for UK last season that ultimately led to postseason losses in the SEC and NCAA tournaments. Advertisement Just amassing the most talented players available for the roster was not going to fix the problem. In examining the entire recruiting class, there's a clear logic to why Pope signed each player and what role they will potentially play next season. 'He's trying to win for real; he's not playing,' Dioubate said. '… He's trying to keep the standard to where it always has been.' Only Pope is adhering to the standard by creating a new one with a much more targeted approach to recruiting. Reach sports columnist C.L. Brown at clbrown1@ follow him on X at @CLBrownHoops and subscribe to his newsletter at to make sure you never miss one of his columns. This story was updated to add a gallery. This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky basketball recruiting: Mark Pope winning transfer portal era
Yahoo
11-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Louisville basketball draws Arkansas road trip in 2025 ACC/SEC Challenge
Louisville basketball drew a juicy matchup in this year's ACC/SEC Challenge. It'll be Pat Kelsey's Cardinals against John Calipari and Kenny Payne's Arkansas Razorbacks on Dec. 3 at Bud Walton Arena. Calipari lost to U of L only three times during his 15 seasons at archrival Kentucky. When he took over the Razorbacks last spring, he hired Payne as his associate head coach. The Cards fired Payne after going 12-52 across his two seasons at the helm. Advertisement This will be Louisville's second appearance in the annual showdown between the ACC and the SEC. In Year 1 of the Kelsey era, it lost to Ole Miss, 86-63, at the KFC Yum! Center. The Cards' lopsided defeat was one of 14 the ACC suffered in last year's event. If the conference is to make a return to form in 2025-26, it needs to fare much better than that. Here's a look at the full 2025 ACC/SEC Challenge field: Tuesday, Dec. 2 Florida at Duke Georgia at Florida State Miami at Ole Miss North Carolina at Kentucky Missouri at Notre Dame Texas A&M at Pitt Tennessee at Syracuse Virginia Tech at South Carolina Oklahoma at Wake Forest Wednesday, Dec. 3 LSU at Boston College Clemson at Alabama Mississippi State at Georgia Tech Louisville at Arkansas N.C. State at Auburn SMU at Vanderbilt Virginia at Texas Arkansas finished 22-14 in Year 1 under Calipari. The Razorbacks earned a No. 10 seed in the NCAA Tournament and, after pulling off upsets of No. 7 Kansas and No. 2 St. John's, fell to No. 3 Texas Tech in the Sweet 16. Advertisement Calipari lost a lot of talent from his 2024-25 roster, including Jonas Aidoo, Boogie Fland, Johnell Davis, Adou Thiero and Zvonimir Ivišić. But his incoming high school recruiting class, headlined by guards Darius Acuff Jr. and Meleek Thomas, ranks sixth in the country on Key returners include Trevon Brazile, Karter Knox, Billy Richmond lll and DJ Wagner. As of Wednesday, Arkansas was 11th in ESPN's way-too-early rankings for the 2025-26 season. Louisville was seventh. The Cards and Razorbacks have split their eight meetings dating back to 1979. The programs last played Nov. 21, 2022, in the first round of the Maui Invitational; Arkansas won, 80-54. U of L hasn't visited Fayetteville since Dec. 21, 1996, when it walked out of Bud Walton Arena with a 91-88 overtime victory. Louisville has confirmed the dates of the following 2025-26 nonconference games: Advertisement The Cards will also host Ohio at the Yum! Center, according to a copy of a signed contract between the two schools obtained via an open records request. A date has not yet been finalized. U of L also reportedly has another neutral-site game on the books: against cross-state rival Cincinnati. It'll square off against the Bearcats at Heritage Bank Center in Cincinnati; a date has not yet been announced. The 2025-26 season will tip off with exhibitions against Kansas (Oct. 24) and Bucknell (TBD) at the Yum! Center. Reach Louisville men's basketball reporter Brooks Holton at bholton@ and follow him on X at @brooksHolton. Advertisement This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville basketball schedule: UofL vs Arkansas in ACC/SEC Challenge
NBC Sports
10-07-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
John Calipari heads into his second season at Arkansas trying to balance old and new
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — John Calipari admits he is still navigating the 'new' college basketball, a world in which the 66-year-old's traditional recruiting style is no longer the norm. But Calipari made it work last season, his first with the Razorbacks, and proved naysayers wrong. But the Arkansas basketball coach isn't interested in doing things the same way moving forward. Calipari spoke about his first year at Arkansas on Wednesday. The Razorbacks started Southeastern Conference play last season with five straight losses. But Arkansas ultimately reached the Sweet 16. Now, Calipari has taken a different approach in rebuilding the Razorbacks' roster heading into his second year in Fayetteville. 'I came here saying I want eight or nine guys because of NIL (name, image, likeness). I can't pick 12,' Calipari said. 'Now I'm like 'Let's have eight or nine that know,' but you have other players we're developing.' Calipari has long been known as a master recruiter of high school players, regularly collecting top-10 classes at Kentucky and Memphis before that. Now, the transfer portal has changed things. High school recruiting is not irrelevant, but preps players aren't as big a focus. Now, it's about veterans with college experience. Arkansas had one returning player last season, forward Trevon Brazile, who is also back for his final season. Calipari built the rest of the roster and used a nine-player rotation. The other five team members played 23 minutes total. Injuries sapped the Razorbacks of their two leading scorers. Guard Boogie Fland, who has transferred to Florida, played in 21 games, and forward Adou Thiero, who was selected in the NBA draft, played in 26. The two played less than 10 minutes in Arkansas' season-ending loss to Texas Tech in the NCAA Tournament. Also gone are center Jonas Aidoo, forward Zvonimir Ivisic and guard Johnell Davis. Now, the Razorbacks have two 6-foot-10 transfers in Nick Pringle from Alabama and Malique Ewin from Florida State. And there are three perimeter freshmen. Guards Meleek Thomas and Darius Acuff Jr. were five-star recruits, and wing Isaiah Sealy ranked as a four-star. On Wednesday, Calipari had practically a full contingent to run through 5-on-5 work, which rarely happened last season. 'Last year, we were always together, but as injuries started peeling off guys, they understood how much they needed each other. The way this is, you probably need to play more people,' Calipari said. Arkansas reached the Sweet 16 for the fourth time in five years after entering the NCAA Tournament as a No. 10 seed and starting SEC play at 1-5 for the third straight season. That start came as the least experienced team in the league, Calipari said. This season, Arkansas returns the most production in the SEC, increasing expectations and stakes. 'It's only 45%, but it's still the most in our league,' Calipari said. DJ Wagner is the only returner who averaged double figure scoring. Karter Knox tested the NBA waters before returning, and Billy Richmond saw plenty of key minutes. There is also Brazile, once considered a possible first round NBA pick before a torn ACL three seasons ago. In his final seven games last season, Brazile averaged 12.6 points and 9.7 rebounds. 'I'd tell you he (Brazile) is playing the best ball since I've coached him,' Calipari said. 'If he's the guy I'm seeing, you're talking about someone that we have one or two like that, then this thing is on. He's that good. Now you've got to find out who are the other couple that can make differences in the game.' Arkansas' mix of young and old looks familiar to Calipari — and anyone who saw his teams at Kentucky. Whether or not the new-old approach to roster building comes to fruition, even Calipari is unsure. 'None of us know,' he said. 'We're trying to figure out how this is going to work.'
San Francisco Chronicle
10-07-2025
- Sport
- San Francisco Chronicle
John Calipari heads into his second season at Arkansas trying to balance old and new
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — John Calipari admits he is still navigating the 'new' college basketball, a world in which the 66-year-old's traditional recruiting style is no longer the norm. But Calipari made it work last season, his first with the Razorbacks, and proved naysayers wrong. But the Arkansas basketball coach isn't interested in doing things the same way moving forward. Calipari spoke about his first year at Arkansas on Wednesday. The Razorbacks started Southeastern Conference play last season with five straight losses. But Arkansas ultimately reached the Sweet 16. Now, Calipari has taken a different approach in rebuilding the Razorbacks' roster heading into his second year in Fayetteville. 'I came here saying I want eight or nine guys because of NIL (name, image, likeness). I can't pick 12,' Calipari said. 'Now I'm like 'Let's have eight or nine that know,' but you have other players we're developing.' Calipari has long been known as a master recruiter of high school players, regularly collecting top-10 classes at Kentucky and Memphis before that. Now, the transfer portal has changed things. High school recruiting is not irrelevant, but preps players aren't as big a focus. Now, it's about veterans with college experience. Arkansas had one returning player last season, forward Trevon Brazile, who is also back for his final season. Calipari built the rest of the roster and used a nine-player rotation. The other five team members played 23 minutes total. Injuries sapped the Razorbacks of their two leading scorers. Guard Boogie Fland, who has transferred to Florida, played in 21 games, and forward Adou Thiero, who was selected in the NBA draft, played in 26. The two played less than 10 minutes in Arkansas' season-ending loss to Texas Tech in the NCAA Tournament. Also gone are center Jonas Aidoo, forward Zvonimir Ivisic and guard Johnell Davis. Now, the Razorbacks have two 6-foot-10 transfers in Nick Pringle from Alabama and Malique Ewin from Florida State. And there are three perimeter freshmen. Guards Meleek Thomas and Darius Acuff Jr. were five-star recruits, and wing Isaiah Sealy ranked as a four-star. On Wednesday, Calipari had practically a full contingent to run through 5-on-5 work, which rarely happened last season. 'Last year, we were always together, but as injuries started peeling off guys, they understood how much they needed each other. The way this is, you probably need to play more people,' Calipari said. Arkansas reached the Sweet 16 for the fourth time in five years after entering the NCAA Tournament as a No. 10 seed and starting SEC play at 1-5 for the third straight season. That start came as the least experienced team in the league, Calipari said. This season, Arkansas returns the most production in the SEC, increasing expectations and stakes. 'It's only 45%, but it's still the most in our league,' Calipari said. DJ Wagner is the only returner who averaged double figure scoring. Karter Knox tested the NBA waters before returning, and Billy Richmond saw plenty of key minutes. There is also Brazile, once considered a possible first round NBA pick before a torn ACL three seasons ago. In his final seven games last season, Brazile averaged 12.6 points and 9.7 rebounds. 'I'd tell you he (Brazile) is playing the best ball since I've coached him,' Calipari said. 'If he's the guy I'm seeing, you're talking about someone that we have one or two like that, then this thing is on. He's that good. Now you've got to find out who are the other couple that can make differences in the game.' 'None of us know," he said. "We're trying to figure out how this is going to work.'
