Calipari mulls Arkansas path: ‘Back to my roots’

Mike ReissMar 19, 2025, 03:57 PM ET

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Mike Reiss is an NFL press reporter at ESPN and covers the New England Patriots. Reiss has actually covered the Patriots considering that 1997 and joined ESPN in 2009. In 2019, he was named Massachusetts Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association.PROVIDENCE, R.I.– John Calipari remains in his 33rd season as a college basketball head coach, however as he prepares his Arkansas squad to face Kansas in a highly expected first-round match in the NCAA tournament, he was assessing his early years.”I’m kind of back to my roots of being the underdog,”Calipari stated Wednesday at the Amica Mutual Structure, where the 10th-seeded Razorbacks face the seventh-seeded Jayhawks on Thursday.”This was among those years that was so fulfilling. All I’m considering is where we were– threw us in the coffin, forgot the nails. No opportunity of the NCAA competition and all of an abrupt we’re here. “Editor’s Picks 2 Associated The roots to which Calipari, 66, referenced was his period at the University

of Massachusetts from 1988-96, his very first head coaching job.UMass had actually qualified for the NCAA competition just one time before Calipari’s arrival. He continued to lead the

Minutemen to 5 straight berths from 1992-96, that included a go to the Final 4 in 1996– which was later on vacated by the NCAA– in which the Minutemen’s first-and second-round games were played in Providence.Calipari referenced those games Wednesday, while also relating his experience to his existing Arkansas group, which was ranked 14th in the Associated Press preseason poll before completing 20-13 overall and 8-10 in the SEC.Calipari kept in mind how the Razorbacks have actually played without leading scorers Boogie Fland(thumb)and Adou Thiero(knee )for a prolonged stretch, which has limited him to a seven-man rotation. The plan is to integrate Fland into the mix

against Kansas, as he has been cleared to return.Arkansas lost 6 of seven games in January, which Calipari said established a specifying part of the season because the next two games were on the roadway– versus Kentucky and Texas. Arkansas won both and went 7-4 over the last 11 games of the routine season.

The Razorbacks then beat South Carolina 72-68 in the first round of the SEC competition before being up to Ole Miss 83-80.”We bust out somehow,”he stated.” This team discovered a method. They became one heart beat. That was so pleasurable for me. “This is so different for me. Combating to get in, the benefits of this. Every one of these players was in a dark location at one point or

another. A really dark location. Questioning,’Can I play?’Questioning whatever. The very first fight you have is with yourself. We’ve gone through a lot [and now] I see kids smiling. “The matchup with Kansas pits Calipari against Costs Self for the third time in the NCAA tournament.Self’s Kansas group defeated Calipari’s Memphis team in the 2008 championship game, 75-65. And in the 2012 championship game, Calipari’s Kentucky team defeated Kansas 67-59.”

Playing somebody I actually regard, and have a friendship with, it’s hard, “Calipari stated.”Due to the fact that both of us are

going to attempt to beat the other’s brains in. After it’s over, you both feel bad, 12 seconds, then you carry on considering the next game.

“The winner will face the victor in between No. 2 St. John’s and No. 15 Omaha.