John Calipari commends Arkansas players for fighting through early season adversity

John Calipari commended his Arkansas players for fighting through a lot of adversity throughout the season. The Razorbacks nearly kept their run going but fell short to Texas Tech in the Sweet 16.

Falling 85-83 to the Red Raiders can bring a lot of what ifs to the table. But Calipari kept the whole season in perspective.

There was a point in the season where the NCAA Tournament was a far cry for Calipari and the Razorbacks. But the team pulled themselves from the depths and managed to make a run, nearly getting to the Elite Eight.

“And I come back to, not just only losing games — we were 0-5, but they were also in a dark place individually, that they overcame it,” Calipari said. “And I just kept talking. The first battle you have is the one with yourself. Don’t worry about battling anybody else. Battle yourself. How do you keep a good attitude? How do you understand there’s only one way to do this is work your way through it. Get in the gym. Spend more time.”

The highlight of the year came when Arkansas upset No. 2 St. John’s in the second round. That seemed to be unfathomable about two months ago for Calipari.

“Second thing is, you’re so worried about yourself, you can’t play for us,” Calipari said. “And then the game’s really hard. They became one heartbeat and the game became easier for each of them. Each of them did some good stuff. Every one of them played better, grew as a player, grew as a person, that’s what made it so rewarding for me because there was a chance they could have let go of the rope.

“I think I was asked that question, will they let go of the rope, you’re 0-5? And I said, no, I don’t believe it because of who they are and what they stand for. And I’ll say it again. Aidoo probably shouldn’t have even tried to play today, and Boogie still wasn’t fully there, but he wanted to play. It tells you all about them and their love for their teammates and their team.”

In the end, Calipari was asked how the team would be remembered. Only the players could answer that question.

“Well, they wrote their own story. They didn’t let somebody else write it,” Calipari said. “They wrote it. We started so bad but we were beat up and injured and we just — we didn’t talk about it. We just said let’s keep playing, let’s go, next man up.”