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John Calipari wants Arkansas players to have 'the ego of the President of the United States'

Danby: Daniel Hager13 hours agoDanielHagerOn3
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© Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

No. 21 Arkansas has opened the second season of the John Calipari era with a 2-1 record. The Razorbacks have dominated in home games against Southern and Central Arkansas, but fell on the road at No. 22 Michigan State 69-66 last week.

Following Arkansas‘ 93-56 blowout victory against Central Arkansas Tuesday night in Fayetteville, the Basketball Hall of Famer revealed that he wants his players to have ‘the ego of the President of the United States’.

“I want them to be fearless, and I want them to have the ego of the President of the United States,” Calipari said. “I’m not talking this one, I’m talking every one. An outerwordly ego. Yes. But not one that you’re delusional. No. But you know that you can come up with answers and you can do it and you’re not afraid. I want them to be fearless that way, but they’ve also got to respect their teammates. Their fearlessness… the other guys will feed off that and start playing that way.”

“If anybody on your team is playing either fearful or tentative, then your whole team tends to play that way. But, the other side I’m saying is you’ve got to know and respect your team. The best play Meleek Thomas made, what was it? He had the layup and tossed it to DJ (Wagner) and let DJ shoot it. Those are two points. He gave them to him. That’s what you want to see.”

The Razorbacks opened the season ranked at No. 14 in the AP Poll, but fell seven spots following their loss to the Spartans. John Calipari‘s team will however have many opportunities to climb back up the rankings, as they have strong non-conference games against No. 1 Houston, No. 4 Duke, No. 11 Texas Tech, and No. 12 Louisville over the coming weeks.

Freshman guards Darius Acuff Jr. and Meleek Thomas have emerged as young leaders for Calipari’s team. Through three games, both players are averaging at least 18 points and 4.5 assists. Calipari is well-known for his superstar point guards (Derrick Rose, John Wall, De’Aaron Fox, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to name a few) in the past, and it appears as if Acuff Jr. and Thomas are well on their way to being the latest names added to that list.

Arkansas looks to improve to 3-1 on the season Friday night at home against Samford. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 PM CT, and the game can be seen on SEC Network+.