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John Calipari reveals unusual pitch to DeMarcus Cousins ahead of 2010 NBA Draft

Danby: Daniel Hager06/11/25DanielHagerOn3
John-Calipari-reveals-unusual-pitch-DeMarcus-Cousins-ahead-of-2010-NBA-Draft
March 26, 2025; San Francisco, CA, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks head coach John Calipari addresses the media in a press conference during NCAA Tournament West Regional Practice at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images | Mar 7, 2008; Lexington, KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats forward DeMarcus Cousins (15) before the game against the Florida Gators at Rupp Arena. Kentucky won 74-66. Mandatory Credit: Frank Victores- Imagn Images

DeMarcus Cousins was one of John Calipari‘s first major recruiting wins when he got to Kentucky in 2009, hauling in the Mobile, AL native over schools such as UAB, Alabama, Kansas State and NC State. He was one of a few star-studded pieces in Calipari’s first recruiting class at Kentucky, including John Wall and Eric Bledsoe.

In his lone season at Kentucky, Cousins emerged as one of the most dominant players in college basketball. After averaging 15.1 points and 9.9 rebounds and earning First-Team All-SEC honors, he would be projected as one of the top picks in the 2010 NBA Draft.

During a conversation on “Golic & Golic” on FanDuel Sports Network on Wednesday, Calipari revealed his pre-draft conversation with Cousins.

“If you want to do what’s right for me and my family, why don’t you stay two more years?”

“Well, first of all, I can remember DeMarcus Cousins saying, ‘Should I go or stay?’ And I said, ‘If you want to do what’s right for you and your family, you put your name in that draft,” Calipari said. “If you want to do what’s right for me and my family, why don’t you stay two more years?’ But I will tell you, now you got players making more — at least this season — more in college than they’d make late in the first round or in the second round. So they should have come back.”

“But if this goes as planned, and we’re living by the rules, you’re not going to have enough money to pay a bunch of guys a bunch of money, unless you’re not paying the others any money,” continued Calipari. “So, well, we’re going to see where this goes. But, look, if you could make more — I told one guy, and he said, ‘They’re going to pay me this.’ I said, ‘Well, take their money and see if they’ll give you two years. Stay two.'”

Cousins would enter the NBA Draft, where he was selected by the Sacramento Kings with the fifth overall pick. He would go on to play 11 seasons in the NBA, where he averaged 19.6 points and 10.2 rebounds across seven teams. He was named an NBA All-Star four times (2016, 2017, 2017 and 2018) and was named All-NBA Second Team two times (2015 and 2016).

Calipari would go on to coach 15 seasons at Kentucky, where he won 410 games and a National Championship in 2012. He made the jump to Arkansas following the 2023-24 season, where the ‘Cats lost in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament to Oakland.