John Calipari reveals what he is using from his previous stops entering Year 2 at Arkansas

Heading into the second season of the John Calipari era at Arkansas, the Razorbacks seem to be rolling with a vintage Cal roster.

This includes five freshmen, led by five-star guards Darius Acuff and Meleek Thomas, some veterans such as D.J. Wagner and Trevon Brazile and talented transfers in Nick Pringle (formerly at South Carolina) and Malique Ewin (formerly at Florida State).

Calipari, who has coached at Massachusetts, Memphis and Kentucky over his prolific Hall of Fame career, was asked on Wednesday what he could use from those stops heading into his second season in Fayetteville.

“Everything you’re doing is trying to build an environmental culture, which means if you demand a lot you’ll get a lot. If you accept mediocrity, you’re getting it every single time,” Calipari said. “So there is what you expect is what you demand and what you’ll accept. That floor can’t be too low. That’s the biggest thing you’re doing over two years. I tell them all the time ‘your will is not stronger than my will’. So let’s go. Let’s get together. I’m telling you what you have to do if you want to play. I tell them all it’s not what you want to show, it’s what they want to see.”

“You’re being evaluated. It’s not what you want to show, that ain’t what they want to see. They want to see you as a basketball player. Do you understand space and pace? Do you make hard cuts and make easy plays? Can you make easy baskets? All that stuff is a culture that we try and build and now the guys leave us but the terminology is the same.”

“We’ve had four-star, three-star and guys stay for two years… but at the end of the day I can’t do it for you because I don’t have a magic wand. But this culture and this environment can help you. You just gotta understand it’ll change you but you’re not changing this culture. You can’t.”

John Calipari enters second season as Arkansas head coach

The first season at Arkansas for Calipari was a definitive rollercoaster, as the Razorbacks rolled through non-conference play with an 11-2 record but lost their first five SEC games by an average of 12.2 points per game. The Hogs however bounced back and went 8-5 in their final 13 conference games, heading into the SEC Tournament as the No. 9 seed.

After downing No. 16 seed South Carolina in the First Round, Arkansas was eliminated by No. 8 seed Ole Miss following a game-winning three by Sean Pedulla. This loss lit a fire under Calipari’s team, as it downed No. 7 seed Kansas and No. 2 seed St. John’s in the NCAA Tournament before falling to No. 3 seed Texas Tech in the Sweet Sixteen.

“Right now, you can tell, I’m more comfortable,” Calipari said in July. “Like, (last year) I had walk in here and I didn’t know anybody. I didn’t know the campus. You guys have to understand, I was never on this campus. … So I’m just more comfortable.”

“And let me tell you, I’m so happy and comfortable and at peace with what we’re doing and how we’re doing it. Because we’re about the kids. It ain’t this and that, it’s about those kids. Now, if we do our job, they’ll lead us to where we’re trying to go.”

Arkansas opens its 2025-26 campaign at home against Southern on Nov. 3.