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John Calipari is aware of the ongoing accusation.
Ever since he started reeling in 5-star recruits and touting his record at developing first-round picks, skeptics have believed that the Hall of Fame coach cares more about putting his players in the NBA than any team success he could accomplish at the college level.
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As he prepares for his third season at the helm of Arkansas basketball — with five potential first-round picks in the 2027 draft on his roster — Calipari decided to address the issue head-on at SEC Media Days.
“Why am I doing this? Do I want to win? Come on, you guys know me well enough. I’d like to win a championship,” Calipari said. “We have a group that thinks they can, but they have no idea what that would take.”
But another key motivator for the Razorbacks was revealed in Birmingham, Alabama.
Arkansas wants to prove everyone wrong. Calipari and his players have their own specific detractors that all fall under the same umbrella.
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It starts at the top of the roster. Jordan Smith Jr. is one of the highest-rated pro prospects on the planet, but some scouts are still skeptical of his ability to play point guard. A recent mock draft from Sports Illustrated said that Smith could turn some pro teams off “with a combo guard play-style at just 6-foot-2.” Somehow, Smith was left off the Preseason All-SEC First Team despite being the clear-cut best draft prospect in the conference.
Calipari is going to let his brightest star figure it out, just as he did with Darius Acuff Jr. last year when the SEC Player of the Year got handed point-guard duties over the veteran D.J. Wagner.
“Jordan, I’m playing at point guard. They say, ‘What?’ Because I can. Like, I’m the coach. I can do whatever I want to do,” Calipari said. “I’m playing him at point guard because, for him and us, I want the players on my team to see him, whether it be on offense or defense, see him, then he drives the rest of this.”
There are doubts throughout the roster. Billy Richmond III…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/arkansas-basketball-john-calipari-prove-151543449.html
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Publish date : 2026-10-15 15:15:00
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