John Calipari on Arkansas’ Final Four history: ‘Let’s do it again’

John Calipari is well aware of Arkansas’ basketball history and wants to bring it back to the glory days under his watch.

The 1994 national champions were the last of those glory days. Sure, there have been great runs, such as 1995 to the finals and the recent Elite Eight appearances in 2021 and ‘22 under former coach Eric Musselman.

But the glory days were the 1990s with three Final Four appearances.

“I know a lot about this program from back in the Eddie Sutton days,” Calipari said. “You know, to Coach Richardson. I have been friends with him for a long time. We played him in 1994 … But no, and we’ve been friends a long time. This program, you know, that run of Final Fours … I just said, Let’s do it again. You know, let’s get this thing going. You got to have good players. If someone says I’ll coach them up, you coach them up. I want to get talented guys and coach them up and get them to be a team.” 

Calipari wants to do a state-wide tour in some sort of fashion. He wants to get ingrained in Razorbacks culture to build the team the right way.

“I’ll get around the state,” Calipari said. “And one thing I want to tell you, when you’re in the seat that I’m in and I’ve been in this kind of seat in different places, you owe it to the state, not just to sit behind your desk and watch tape and coach basketball. 

“I mean the impact you can have for people creating hope, opportunities going out making people feel good, feel good about their state, feel good about themselves. I won’t cheat the position so believe me, I’ll be out and about. Right now I gotta get a roster. So as soon as I get a roster I can think about the other stuff.”

Despite Calipari’s comments, college basketball insiders have previously indicated the 65-year-old head coach’s move to Arkansas was heavily influenced by the program’s jaw-dropping NIL programs.

A source told On3 Calipari will have “at least” $5 million annually in NIL funds to disperse. The same source estimated the budget will be in the $6 million ballpark. That figure will place the Razorbacks at the top of the sport, where typical Power 4 budgets range from $1 to $4 million.

Is that the type of money to bring the Razorbacks to prominence? Claipari could certainly take advantage.