Arkansas coach John Calipari clinched his second consecutive Sweet 16 berth in charge of the No. 4 Razorbacks when his team beat the No. 12 High Point Panthers 94-88 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday. The Razorbacks have been led by star guard Darius Acuff, who has terrorized teams at the Big Dance.
The high-flying Razorbacks, who won the SEC Tournament title a week ago, will face the No. 1 Arizona Wildcats in the Sweet 16 at SAP Center in San Jose on Thursday.
John Calipari Discusses His Role in Arkansas’ NCAA Tournament Run
During an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Tuesday, Calipari boasted about his team’s talent and revealed his game plan for the rest of the NCAA Tournament.
“I’ve got really good players, and all I’ve got to do is convince them that they deserve it,” Calipari said. “I had individual meetings with them yesterday, just to hug them and let them know how proud I am and how much I appreciate them. ‘This is gonna go so fast, the rest of these games. In this stage, be who you are, go for it.’
“If I have to be anything other than a cheerleader in this game, we ain’t winning. I gotta tell them, ‘You’re fine, keep playing. Just keep going, you’re good.’ You gotta have plan A and B. We play how we play, let’s play our best and hope it’s good enough. We don’t need to try to be somebody else.”
MARCH MADNESS: Fill In Your Bracket Now!
Calipari has found a new lease on life at Arkansas after being dumped out of the Big Dance early while at Kentucky, leading to his shock departure from Lexington in 2024.
Bruce Pearl Praises John Calipari’s Leadership of the Razorbacks
In an interview during this year’s March Madness, former Auburn Tigers coach Bruce Pearl lavished praise on Calipari’s man management of his star-studded roster, which allows them to play as a team.
“I mean, John has the ability to get the kids to understand that when we as a team are successful, you as an individual will benefit far more than if you as an individual are successful but the team fails,” Pearl said. “This Arkansas team made a run at the end of the season. They won the SEC Tournament.
“I’ve never seen a coach that could collect this amount of talent and get them to put their own personal issues behind them. Because guys, their parents are calling them, their agents are calling them, ‘Why aren’t you doing this?’ They’re listening to one voice, and that’s John Calipari. And he’s as good at that as anybody in our business.”
Over the course of his storied career, Calipari has carved out a niche in college basketball by helping produce NBA-ready talent, including Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Davis, and Derrick Rose.
