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Myron Medcalf
Birmingham, Ala. — While John Calipari has seen some of his teammates — such as Jay Wright, Tony Bennett and most recently Bruce Pearl — surprisingly exit the men’s college basketball game amid major changes to the game, the 66-year-old coach said he’s not considering a departure so soon.
But arkansas The coach also said that he would leave when he could not perform as per his wish.
“I want to help 25 to 30 more families,” Calipari said during SEC media day Tuesday. “The only way to do that is to be transformational as a coach. If you’re not, you’re going to be transactional. If I become transactional – ‘I’m going to pay you to do this and that’ – then I’m not going to do that anymore. I don’t need that.”
Although Arkansas added key players – such as five-star recruit Darius Acuff – The program also lost excellent talents including the transfer portal Boogie Land (Florida) and Zvonimir Ivicic (Illinois). In his effort to avoid the turnover experienced by many teams, Calipari warned his players that entering the portal meant their time with the Razorbacks was over, even if they had second thoughts.
“That’s why if someone puts their name in the portal, I say, ‘You’re not coming back,’ because it won’t be transactional.”
Calipari said he still has the same passion for coaching and any observer of his practices at Arkansas will see that he is still “connected” to his players. He also said he planned to remain in college basketball because he wanted to make positive change for the next generation of coaches, including his son, Arkansas assistant Brad Calipari.
“Calvin Sampson and I just talked,” Calipari said of the Houston coach, whose son, Kellen, is his top assistant. “I said, ‘We’ve got to fix some of these things before we go out for our kids.'”
Despite the issues, Calipari said that if he could no longer form real relationships with players he would know it was time to retire. The current era has made that ambition even more difficult. Calipari said the portal may provide immediate benefits to those who enter, but he’s worried about what’s next for some of those who have bounced around multiple schools and failed to make those connections.
“I have no objection to the transfer of children,” he said. “You can’t transfer four times, because that’s not good for you. Four schools in four years, you’ll never have a college degree. But the last place you end up, they’ll actually be loyal to you? No, you’re a mercenary.”
