John Calipari shares harsh coaching he gave Karter Knox after withdrawing from NBA Draft

Arkansas forward Karter Knox spent just over five weeks testing himself before eventually withdrawing his name from the 2025 NBA Draft. Once he did, though, John Calipari was on him immediately once he returned to Fayetteville.

Calipari discussed Knox’s return to the program during an offseason presser earlier this month. That started with him sharing he had to get on him for not coming back as in shape as he should have, despite having just been working out for the draft.

“Early on, he kind of felt like, ‘well, I did this,’ and he was behind in conditioning. Oh, and I let him know,” Calipari said. “Like, you told me you were doing all this? You’re behind everybody else in conditioning! Well, he caught up.”

Knox could have gone one-and-done after last season with the Razorbacks, where he posted 8.3 points (46.2% FG, 35% 3PT on 1.0 makes), 3.3 rebounds, and 1.0 assists per game as a freshman. Those numbers then only improved over the final dozen games of the year, a stretch where the team played better as well as a whole in reaching the Sweet 16, at 11.5 points (55.3% FG, 36.2% 3PT on 1.2 makes) 3.3 rebounds, and 1.4 assists.

Instead, Knox pulled out of the draft and came back as one of four key returners for Coach Cal. Now, with him back, Calipari wants Knox, among others on this year’s roster, to become more consistent in their play. That said, Knox isn’t one he’s necessarily worried about because of how often he’s in the gym working on that.

“The thing about him? You know he’s going to work,” Calipari said. “Like, they live in the gym. We got guys – last year we had two or three. That was it. Now, you have six or seven that literally are always in that gym. If I come up, they’re either in the training room, or they’re in the gym, or they went from the gym to the training room. And, he, like, he leads the pack. He’s not afraid to get in the gym and work.

“Guys like (Knox) and Meelek Thomas? They’ve got to get more consistent, which means you’ve got to live in the gym. You got to spend more time. And, if they’re more consistent? A lot of it is decision-making, shot-making. You know, you were wide open, you missed badly, you shot an airball. You can’t be that guy. You’re too good a player.”

Knox eventually got himself back into better shape, where he needed to be. That’ll have him more ready as this offseason continues to take the step as an important piece for the Razorbacks next season

“With him, I’m not worried. Because he works,” Calipari closed.