John Calipari on changes the transfer portal and NIL have brought to college basketball

After news broke Sunday that John Calipari would be leaving the Kentucky basketball program to become the next head coach at Arkansas, he was officially introduced by the Razorbacks in Fayetteville on Wednesday.

Calipari has been a staple in the college basketball landscape for quite some time, but now finds himself at the helm of a new program during a new time in the sport. Highlighted by NIL and the transfer portal having an unprecedented impact on recruiting, and in turn, winning games.

During his introductory press conference for Arkansas, Coach Cal spoke on how those two factors have changed college hoops.

“What’s changed a little bit is that kids are older. Now do you know why they’re older?” Calipari asked Wednesday. “Why do you think we played against a 26-year old in the NCAA Tournament? My 19 year olds. Why was that? COVID a little bit. They’re giving a bunch of waivers.”

“And no one wants to leave because NIL. I’m gonna stay here, I’ll make more here than I would going and getting a job, and I’m still playing basketball. So, that’s one of the issues, which means physical toughness and physicality matter more now than ever before,” Calipari explained.

The transfer portal has allowed college athletes to move more freely between different programs, and that paired with NIlL allowing student-athletes to now make money in college has played a role in their decision to stay in college longer versus pursuing a professional career.

At Kentucky Calipari’s model was simple, bring in talented young players year after year who would often times spend just one season with the Wildcats before moving on to the NBA level. A model that helped Kentucky reach massive success in his first decade in Lexington but has resulted in shortcomings in the postseason for the past five seasons for the Wildcats.

“Now you can have freshman but they’d better be physically tough. The transfer portal, you’re getting some older players. But the other thing you have to understand, both Purdue and Connecticut had players that had been in their program for three years. They didn’t leave. They were there three years,” Calipari said. “So, it’s just not go get a transfer because a transfer is for one year or two of them, many times.”

Calipari’s exit from Kentucky was highlighted by some outside criticism of his program-building tactics and inability to adapt. As it will surely be interesting now to see if he changes his approach in college basketball’s new NIL and transfer portal landscape with the Razorbacks moving forward.