John Calipari on possibly coaching Team USA one day: 'I would never petition'

John Calipari doesn’t seem to want the Team USA coaching job, saying he would “never petition” for the role.

Currently, at this year’s Olympics, Team USA is coached by Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors. Also on the staff are the Miami Heat’s Erik Spoelstra, Los Angeles Clippers coach Ty Lue and Gonzaga’s Mark Few.

But Calipari is just fine with Arkansas, which he begins his tenure with this upcoming season. That’s a big enough challenge already.

“I would never petition, that’s not how this goes and I’m so happy for the staff,” Calipari said. “Mark Few, by the way, is a really good friend. Hopefully we’re doing something with them in the future. But he’s a really good friend and Steve and I know all those guys. They’re terrific people, and they deserve to be there. And no, I’m good. I’m good. I got a big job here. Get this thing right and have people look at us and say what are they doing? How do we do that? Let people look at this and say, ‘Well, you know, here it goes again.’”

The 65-year-old actually coached international basketball before, coaching the Dominican Republic in the summers of 2011 and ‘12 and also coached the U19 USA men’s team in July of 2017.

But with a 813-260 career record and a 2012 national title on his resume, Calipari is ready to keep adding at the college level at Arkansas. Based on recruiting and transfer portal wins, and not to mention an immense NIL backing, Calipari is in a good spot.

Still, there are a lot of expectations to get it right.

“But it takes everybody and we have been treated in a way that we know how to help you,” Calipari said. “And that’s coming from all directions. What do we do to help, how do we, people want this to happen and you know, I feel it. I’m loving it. Having a good group and then following it up, development, following up with a good recruiting group, another one … (This year), that’s a good group. And now you go forward with another group and you start that roll, what we do here and how we do it.”

Sure, Arkansas fans want Calipari to dominate right away. But it will take some time.

“But, I’m going to a place and I’m saying ‘Let’s get this going at the highest level,’” Calipari said. “And it’s going to take time. I’m saying it again: I’m not a magician. It’s getting a bunch of players to understand how bad they need each other. And if we all do this together and we win, everybody eats, and you all eat. You don’t have to just be about yourself.”