Calipari, Arkansas rise from dead into Sweet 16

John Calipari’s first season at Arkansas reached Sweet 16 Saturday after Razorbacks upset St. John’s. (Photo by On3 Sports)

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — John Calipari reminded those quick to dismiss his Arkansas team that the Razorbacks may have been packed up and placed in a coffin even as they were one of a record 14 Southeastern Conference teams selected for NCAA Tournament berths.

There was only one problem, the Hall of Fame coach cautioned. All those who had written Arkansas off had made the mistake of forgetting the nails to secure the Hogs’ collective carcass into a final resting place.

Now, after losing its first five SEC games and six of seven to start the conference season, placing Arkansas firmly off the March radar, the team no one expected to be here is not just here, it is the life of the party after upsetting St. John’s to reach the Sweet 16.

“I’m proud of these guys,” a jubilant Calipari said Saturday. “All of them here had to overcome stuff, and they did. They did because they’re good guys, they’ve been raised right, and they knew finally—not at the beginning of the year—that we absolutely need each other, or we’re going down together. And they became one heartbeat. They figured out that if I worry more about the team and less about myself, ‘man, I play better!’ It took time.”

“We had guys in a dark place where they would look like that, but now they know I can be in a dark place like that and overcome it. I hope they also understand that you can go fast alone, but if you want to go far, you go with others. I think they now understand that we all gotta do what we’re supposed to do, and we gotta do this together. We can’t be selfish trying to get our own.”

Equally criticized and revered for his pioneering of relying on high-impact freshmen over the years, Calipari has been overlooked at times as his one-and-done players have been replaced by the transfer portal as the hip new toy in the college basketball landscape. But with a first-year core of Billy Richmond, Karter Knox and Boogie Fland to pair with veteran transfers the likes of Jonas Aidoo and Johnell Davis, the embattled former Kentucky boss has had a rejuvenating first season out of Lexington. And he has changed his style in a sense even as he has denied such a notion, by not only allowing his players to have a stronger and more amplified voice, but also by letting each play through adversity to help cultivate natural maturity.

“If you really want to bust out, you have to take some knocks, and then overcome them to know you can,” Calipari said. “Because the whole career they’re gonna have in basketball is going to be that. Can you overcome the bad spells? Can you be so confident and fall back on your training? If you can’t, there’s no one picking you up. You gotta pick yourself up.”

“They’re fun to coach. I told them this is as rewarding a year as I’ve had based on how far we’ve come. I’ve told them a million times: You’re not gonna disappoint me, let’s figure stuff out.”

Winners of seven of nine since a February 19 loss at Auburn that left them squarely on the bubble, and perhaps on the wrong side of it, the Hogs now face a Texas Tech team much like St. John’s in terms of its defense and physicality. But with a reinvigorated coach and a renewed sense of confidence, the Razorbacks might be more dangerous now as the tournament enters its second weekend. And the one heartbeat Calipari spoke of seems to resound louder whenever it is ignored.

“To be where we are, still playing and still fighting, and having fun, I’m enjoying it,” he proclaimed. “I’m not gonna let anything faze me. Here we are, let’s have fun. I’m still holding them accountable, but I’m asking them for a lot of input. What do you see offensively? What do we need to be doing?”

“How about we give ourselves a chance to make some magic? Let’s go fight like heck, play free and loose, whatever happens, happens. Let’s go see if we can create magic.”