John Calipari has been an NCAA basketball coach for 33 years — and isn’t going anywhere yet.
The Hall of Fame coach said recently that the timing of his retirement hinges on whether he can develop players both on and off the court.
“As long as I can keep helping young people and their families, then I’ll do it,” Calipari told
Jim Rome on his titular show on his titular show. “The minute I’m not capable of doing it because the rules have made it or the environment has made it with NIL and with the transfer portal — if it’s transactional versus transformational, why would I do it?”
Calipari was hired as Arkansas’s head coach on Apr. 10, 2024, leaving behind his 15 years at SEC rival Kentucky for a five-year, $35 million contract with the Razorbacks.
The Wildcats claimed six SEC titles and four trips to the Final Four, including winning the 2012 national championship, during his time in Lexington.
“My daughter tells me all the time, ‘You do it ’cause you wanna do it, ’cause you don’t have to do it.’ But I love doing what I’m doing, and so I’d like to help 20-25 more families, 30 more families, and then I’ll say, ‘It’s been a good run,’” Calipari said.
In his first season with the Razorbacks, the results started poorly as they went 1-6 in their first SEC games. But Arkansas began to rally in the second half of the season, ending with an 8-10 record in the SEC. That was enough for the Razorbacks to earn a 10 seed in this year’s March Madness.
Arkansas took down Kansas then shocked No. 2 seed St. John’s to reach the Sweet 16 where it blew a late lead to Texas Tech to end the season in heart-breaking fashion.
There are high hopes for Calipari’s second season. While Arkansas did lose starting guard Boogie Fland to Florida, Calipari was able to land the top recruits in Darius Acuff and Meleek Thomas.
Calipari will have to take his team once again through the gauntlet of the SEC. But if his team can live up to the hype, a deep March Madness run is on the table.
