John Calipari on recruits: 'They know why they're coming to play for me'

John Calipari might be heading into his first year as the head coach for the Arkansas Razorbacks men’s basketball program, but this is far from his first rodeo.

The Razorbacks headman has made a reputation for himself as a coach who knows how to get you to the next level. So that means recruits know what to expect from him and vice versa. During a recent appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, Calipari opened up about the type of players he recruits, his recruiting message, and his philosophy to his players.

“I tell kids if you’re drinking, smoking, clubbing, chasing, why would you come here? You’re going to be in the group that everybody wants to be pros, and they’re bringing it every day,” said Calipari. “And the cream will rise. If you want to bet on yourself, come on. I can’t do it for you. I’m not promising you starting positions or minutes and all that other— you gotta wanna get here.”

“The reality of it is they know why they’re coming to play for me and our staff. And I think if you recruit, we’re going to underpromise and over-deliver. That’s the whole thing. I’ve started more freshmen in my career than any coach in the history of the game. So if you wanna start, start… You want to beat somebody out on the team? Beat them out. That’s what we come with. Now, NIL plays a part now… If you’re going for NIL, you will not come with me. If it’s solely NIL, you will go somewhere else.”

Calipari’s methods may not always result in national championships at the collegiate level. However, what it typically translates into is a number of his players being selected towards the top of any given NBA draft. The most recent one, the 2024 NBA Draft, saw Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham taken in the top 10. So when Calipari says, ‘They know why they’re coming to play for me,’ the Arkansas head coach has a significantly large rap sheet to back up his claim.

Calipari recalls his favorite college players to coach

Calipari has no shortage of pros produced between stops at Massachusetts, Memphis, and Kentucky, and during his appearance, he named some of his all-time favorite players.

McAfee and his henchmen were pretty amazed by Calipari’s sheer track record of producing pros. But among all those stars in the NBA, which were some of his favorite recruits and players before all the pro success? One member of the show asked, and Cal came back with some of his best guys:

“Derrick Rose, Karl Towns, you’re missing, how about this, how about Marcus Camby? Lou Roe? How about those guys?” said Calipari.

He then went on to break down some of those elite guys he coached.

“So here’s what I’m going to say: Derrick Rose had a twitch like I’ve never seen before, twitch,” he commented of the 2011 NBA MVP.

“John Wall was so fast. I asked Eric Bledsoe, ‘Eric, how fast is John?’ He said ‘Oh coach, so fast.’ I said, ‘Faster than you?’ He said ‘No, he’s not faster than me, but he’s really fast.’”

At the time, and perhaps still today, Wall was one of the fastest point guards in college hoops history with the ball in his hands. That guy could fly.

“So you have Anthony Davis. How about Devin Booker?” Calipari continued through the list. “(Booker) was 17 when he played for me, 17! But you know, Maxey, and I’m leaving all these guys out.”