Arkansas guard Boogie Fland (2) talks with Arkansas coach John Calipari on the sidelines against … [+] Pacific during an NCAA college basketball game Monday, Nov. 18, 2024, in Fayetteville, Ark. (AP Photo/Michael Woods)
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As Arkansas coach John Calipari entered the press conference room at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night following a victory over Michigan, he held up his telephone. New York Knicks star Karl-Anthony Towns, who played for Calipari at Kentucky, was on the other end.
“He doesn’t stop,” Calipari said of Towns. “He’s talked his whole life.”
Calipari then informed Towns that reporters could hear their conversation.
“Oh, good — they’ll be waiting to hear this,” Towns said. “I saw your big guys shooting 3’s. I don’t know what in the hell must’ve happened. You must’ve had an epiphany.”
Calipari chided Towns, saying he could make free throws but “you couldn’t guard pick and roll defense. You still can’t” before adding “you’re bothering me” and “you know I love you.”
The good-natured banter showed off a lighter side of Calipari, who in recent years has come under scrutiny for underachieving, especially in the NCAA tournament. After 15 years at Kentucky, Calipari in April accepted the head coaching job at Arkansas, a move that stunned many but gave the 65-year-old a chance to start anew.
So far, Arkansas has had an inconsistent season, displaying its talented roster at times but also its lack of cohesiveness on other occasions, which is to expected considering Arkansas only has one player (forward Trevon Brazile) who was on last season’s team and has been battling injuries and illnesses.
On Tuesday night, Arkansas fell behind No. 14 Michigan by 15 points in the first half before rallying to take an 18-point lead midway through the second half. The Wolverines cut their deficit to 88-87 with 1:28 remaining, but they couldn’t score again. Brazile made a free throw with 13 seconds remaining and Michigan’s Roddy Gayle Jr. missed a shot at the buzzer, securing Arkansas’s two-point victory, its biggest of the season.
Afterward, Calipari lamented that Michigan made 57.6% of its field goal attempts and 44.4% of its 3’s. He also wasn’t thrilled Arkansas (8-2) missed eight free throws, following a trend that includes 11 missed free throws in a 90-77 loss against Illinois on Thanksgiving at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri. The Razorbacks’ other loss occurred on Nov. 9 when Baylor won, 72-67, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.
“We’re not quite there yet,” Calipari said. “We’ve got some guys, if they’re not playing well, they don’t play well for their team. We’re going to get through that, but this was a nice win.”
Arkansas entered the season ranked 16th in the Associated Press poll, but it fell out of the poll earlier this month following the Illinois loss. Still, the Razorbacks have been shorthanded, with Calipari saying the team has scrimmaged in practice only twice due to injuries. He said at one point this season Arkansas had just five healthy players.
In each of its 10 games, Arkansas has started four guards: freshman Boogie Fland and transfers D.J. Wagner (Kentucky), Adou Thiero (Kentucky) and Johnell Davis (Florida Atlantic). Thiero is leading the team with 18 points and 5.9 rebounds per game, while Fland is next with 11 points per game. Wagner is averaging 9.8 points per game, while Davis is averaging 9 points per game and shooting 45.2% from the field, well below last year when he averaged 18.2 points per game and made 48.3% of his shots.
Davis, a third-team preseason All-American by CBS Sports and Fox Sports, only had six points on 2-of-8 shooting on Tuesday in the Jimmy V Classic. But Calipari didn’t seem concerned, saying that Davis “is going to get better” and “he’s going to be fine.” Fland (20 points and 7 assists) and Wagner (16 points and 5 assists) led the way, but the Razorbacks were still not at full strength as reserves Zvonimir Ivisic and Billy Richmond III were dealing with the flu.
“We haven’t even touched what we’re going to be,” Calipari said. “We’ve got to scrimmage. We’ve got to get healthy.”
Arkansas returns to action on Saturday against Central Arkansas (335th of 364 Division 1 teams in analyst Ken Pomeroy’s ratings), followed by North Carolina A&T (308th) and Oakland (184th). The Razorbacks then play at No. 1 Tennessee on Jan. 4 in their Southeastern Conference opener. The Volunteers (9-0) have won each of their games this season by at least 13 points.
Tennessee is one of nine SEC teams in this week’s AP top 25, along with No. 2 Auburn, No. 5 Kentucky, No. 7 Alabama, No. 9 Florida, No. 12 Oklahoma, No. 17 Texas A&M, No. 19 Ole Miss and No. 25 Mississippi State. This season, the league’s teams have gone 133-19, winning 87.5% of their games, and are 17-7 against teams ranked in the AP top 25.
“Normally, as a coach, you’re looking, ‘Alright, do we have some wins in this league?,’” Calipari said. “Then I started thinking, ‘Are we the win?,’ the way we were playing for a while. Maybe they’re looking saying, ‘Jesus, we’re playing Arkansas. Thank God for that.’ But there are no (easy) wins. I can go up and down the league…They’re telling me this is like SEC baseball now, where it doesn’t matter who you play, you can lose, top to bottom. And that may be the case.”
Calipari, who was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015, has won 863 games in his career, the most of any active Division 1 men’s coach and tied for eighth all-time. He and Rick Pitino are the only men’s coaches to lead three programs to Final Four appearances. And in 2012, Calipari led Kentucky to the national title.
By any measure, Calipari has had a highly successful career. Still, he has not performed as well lately. Since 2019, Calipari has only won one NCAA tournament game. Kentucky missed the tournament in 2021 and lost in the first round in 2022 and 2024 as a No. 2 and No. 3 seed, respectively.
After Arkansas coach Eric Musselman left following last season for USC, the Razorbacks targeted Calipari, who accepted a five-year, $35 million offer. Calipari has the backing of influential boosters such as billionaires John Tyson, chairman of Tyson Foods who has a net worth of $2.9 billion, according to Forbes; Johnelle Hunt, the co-founder of a transportation company who has a net worth of $4.6 billion; and Warren Stephens, founder of the Stephens Inc. investment bank who has a net worth of $3.4 billion.
“What I did at this time in my life, in my career, this was perfect,” Calipari said. “First page in the first chapter of the new book, and it’s an adventure, and I’m going to have fun and enjoy it. I’m happy. Do I look happy? If we lost, I wonder if I’d have been happy. But throughout the game, I’m happy. I love coaching this group. I’ve got a job to do.”