John Calipari: Arkansas is one of the best college basketball jobs in the country

John Calipari certainly buttered up the Arkansas crowd at his opening press conference after leaving Kentucky to take the Razorbacks’ job.

Arkansas has a very respectable basketball history and has long been one of the top SEC programs in the sport throughout the last several decades — which hasn’t gone unnoticed by Calipari. As part of his opening remarks as the new Head Hog, he praised the program as one of the elites in the country.

“I’m excited about this. This program, you talk about some of the best jobs in the country in basketball, this is one of them,” stated Calipari. “We can say what we want, this is one of them.”

Calipari even went as far as to say Arkansas is in the same class as Kentucky as one of the blue blood powerhouses of the sport: “Kentucky’s the bluest of the blue. There’s not but a few schools like that, but I hate to tell you… Arkansas is one of them.”

That comment will certainly ruffle feathers among Kentucky fans, but Arkansas fans lapped it up. After all, every program wants a coach who believes their job is among the best in the country, and Calipari says that the Razorback program qualifies for such a designation.

He then went on to explain that he’s not just excited to coach the Arkansas basketball team, but also wants to get out and explore the rest of the state to meet and greet as many Hogs fans as possible — a type of outreach he was always great it in Kentucky.

“This is a state that I’m comfortable in. It’s how I grew up. I can’t wait to go around the state and meet people and be in situations where they’re going to say ‘he’s a regular guy’ I hope,” said Calipari, noting that fans’ opinions of him may be a little outsized.

“I don’t think I’m this magician. People look at me different than I look at myself,” he commented.

With a brand new high-profile coaching job and a whole new state worth of fans to say hello to, John Calipari will certainly have a busy offseason — in addition to trying to build a fresh roster in Fayetteville. He also said he felt re-energized by the job, and that’s good news for a guy with a team to build from scratch and a new fanbase to get to know these next few months.