Arkansas pulled off big upsets in the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament in coach John Calipari’s first season at the helm and will be hoping to extend their underdog title run this week against No. 3 seed Texas Tech.
Calipari’s former team, Kentucky, has also made it to the Sweet 16 and could face the Razorbacks in the NCAA championship game, though both teams face a long and treacherous path to get there.
Calipari, who has now taken four schools to the Sweet 16 in his coaching career, left the blue-blooded waters of Kentucky last year and hasn’t looked back since, especially not with Arkansas’s success of late.
The 66-year-old coach spoke to Dan Patrick about the Razorbacks’ stunning 75-66 upset win against No. 2 St. John’s over the weekend and gave his honest take on why this Arkansas season has been “the most rewarding season” he’s had.
“You gotta go further than Kentucky, don’t you?” Patrick said, prodding Calipari with an off-hand comment about his old team.
“No, not worried about them,” Calipari said (around the 8:35 mark in the video). “What’s happened for us, this season has been the most rewarding season. I’ve had seasons where we won more games and won national titles and Final Fours and Elite Eights—I’ve had all those. But what this team has been through to survive it, it’s been as rewarding as any season.”
Calipari went on to tout the “character” of his Arkansas squad and how they’ve managed to overcome all obstacles to make it this far in the big dance.
“It talks a lot about the character of these kids, how they were raised, that they could withstand the onslaught,” continued Calipari. “Dan, these kids, all of them, have pianos on their backs because of NIL. ‘Well, they’re paid, they should do this,’ and they’re trying to live up to expectations.”
Calipari’s first NCAA tournament with Arkansas has certainly proved to be a memorable one. The Razorbacks coach has even more reason to smile this week with leading scorer, Adou Thiero, expected to return for the team’s Sweet 16 matchup against Texas Tech on Thursday.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as John Calipari Makes Strong Statement Comparing Kentucky, Arkansas Amid NCAA Run.