CBS poll says John Calipari among most powerful people in college basketball

Arkansas basketball’s John Calipari is getting prepared for his 35th season as a head coach.

That type of longevity commands respect in college hoops’ circles, with some even believing the Hall of Famer is the most powerful person in the sport.

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According to a recent poll of roughly 100 coaches conducted by CBS Sports, 5% believe Calipari is the most powerful person in college basketball. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey led the list with 25% of the vote, but no other coach received more endorsements than Calipari.

“He’s the last of the old guard. He and [Kansas coach Bill] Self to a certain extent, and I know they worked together with Larry Brown back in the day,” one anonymous coach told CBS Sports. “He, along with [Purdue coach] Matt Painter, have probably done the best job of trying to organize coaches to fix some of these issues. He works behind the scenes. When he’s at events, he’s trying to get coaches together and get us on the same page to try and fix this thing. … He still wants to be in the fight. He’s not running from this (expletive) like so many of the older guys are.”

The other coaches on the list were Duke’s Jon Scheyer (4%), Michigan State’s Tom Izzo (2%) and St. John’s Rick Pitino. Right behind Sankey were “the agents” (23%) and the lawyers (9%).

Calipari has been outspoken about the issues he believes are harming college basketball ever since he arrived in Fayetteville. He believes every college athlete should only be able to transfer once, and any other transfers in a player’s career should require a year on the sidelines.

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He also has been outspoken about his support for new eligibility rules that he hopes will limit former professionals who want to return to college basketball. He lamented the recent expansion of the NCAA Tournament and wants conference commissioners to enforce their power when it comes to the recent roster additions this late in the offseason.

Hours after CBS Sports’ poll was released, Calipari took to social media to…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/cbs-poll-says-john-calipari-195135037.html

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Publish date : 2026-09-04 19:51:00

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