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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – When it comes to old habits, those usually die hard and for Arkansas coach John Calipari, he’s going to live by it.
College basketball has never been older, and the Razorbacks’ third-year coach doesn’t really care what anybody thinks.
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“We’re good enough. We’re old enough. How about that statement,” Calipari said during a recent summer workout via Hogs Plus.
Calipari has built a Naismith Hall of Fame coaching career around freshmen.
He won a national championship by predominantly using freshmen.
His 65 NBA Draft picks places him second all-time and has won over 900 games in his career with the use of young men.
Even when the college game shifted to being older, Calipari never wavered from his philosophical approach, which led to the Razorbacks signing the consensus No. 1 high school recruiting class in the 2026 cycle. With No. 2 overall player Jordan Smith, Jr. along with fellow 5-stars JJ Andrews, Abdou Toure and Miikka Muurinen he believes he has a very good team at his disposal.
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At 18 years and seven months old, his average roster age is going to be among the youngest, if not the youngest in college basketball next season. But that’s kind of how he likes it anyway.
Calipari has mentioned it several times over the years that his goal is to help young men reach their goals of an NBA payday. It’s early enough in the offseason, but he has a core nucleus already together between freshmen, returnees and transfers that are putting in the work to build team chemistry.
Arkansas Razorbacks recruit Jordan Smith with coach John Calipari during weekend official visit in Fayetteville, Ark. | Arkansas Communications
One absence who could have made his way into the rotation a bit more than last season is sophomore small forward Isaiah Sealy, who injured his knee last month. With him already out, it limited the work Calipari and his coaching staff can do in practice.
However, numbers have never bothered him because there were days in his first season…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/were-good-enough-were-old-153001781.html
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Publish date : 2026-07-14 15:30:00
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