John Calipari: Arkansas players 'have a piano on their back' with NIL pressure

When John Calipari took over at Arkansas this year, he was expected to have an increase in NIL funds. That came to fruition in a big way, as On3’s Pete Nakos reported, and the Razorbacks are heading to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament.

It’s been an up-and-down season for Arkansas, which lost its first five SEC games. The Razorbacks wound up finishing 8-10 in league play to come in as No. 10 seed in Calipari’s first season at the helm. Freshman guard Boogie Fland also suffered what was initially feared to be a season-ending injury, but he was able to return for March Madness.

As he worked to stabilize things, Calipari said difficult conversations took place. They weren’t about the state of the program, though. Instead, he cited the pressure of NIL as a hurdle Arkansas players had to overcome.

“At one point, we were back and forth,” Calipari said following Saturday’s upset of St. John’s. “I said, guys, stop. We can’t trade anybody this is who we got. Now, how do we get each of these guys better? What do we do? And we just went to work. Spent time individually. I had a lot of meetings. Like, they were sitting on a couch. Let me just put it that way. There was a lot of stuff they overcame and I keep reminding them how much you’ve overcome. You guys think in winning and losing. You understand, these kids have a piano on their back. It’s never been this way in all my years of coaching, because NIL, if a kid got money, it’s just more weight. And now, the families are more involved than they’ve ever been, why? NIL.

“So now, all of a sudden, they’ve got the people around them, they’ve got the piano on their back. They miss a shot, now, social media tees off on you. Are you really looking at that stuff? For them to do what they did and then were still playing, like I said prior to the game, how about we give ourselves a chance to make some magic? Let’s just go fight like heck, play free and loose, whatever happens happens. But let’s go see if we can create magic. And that’s what I said before the game.”

New faces lead Arkansas to Sweet Sixteen

John Calipari used the transfer portal to help flip Arkansas’ roster right away, although he also proved freshmen can still win on the big stage. Fland was one of four additions from the high school recruiting trail, along with Karter Knox, Billy Richmond and Casmir Chavis. Knox and Richmond are also key contributors and played key roles in Saturday’s upset.

The Razorbacks also got five commitments out of the transfer portal, including former Florida Atlantic guard Johnell Davis and former Tennessee big man Jonas Aidoo. Three players – DJ Wagner, Adou Thiero and Zvonimir Ivisic – followed Calipari from Kentucky and continued to make an impact in Fayetteville.

Now, Arkansas is heading to the second weekend of March Madness. The Razorbacks will take on Texas Tech in the Sweet Sixteen in San Francisco.