by BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) – Arkansas coach John Calipari, whose unique era at Kentucky saw NBA talent come and go almost every season, criticized what he sees in the name, image and likeness portal era, saying he won’t be a “transactional” coach or “he won’t be doing this anymore.”
Calipari, 66, said he welcomes some changes in college athletics more than others after more than three decades in head coaching.
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“I want to help 25 to 30 more families,” Calipari said Tuesday during SEC basketball media days. “The only way you can do that is to be transformational as a coach. If you’re not, you’re transactional. If I become transactional – ‘I’m going to pay you this to do this and that’ – then I won’t do this anymore. That’s not necessary.”
A transactional approach has become increasingly common – and sometimes mandatory – for programs that want to remain competitive.
In 2021, transfer guidelines were softened, meaning multiple transfers were no longer punished with the requirement to serve a year. In 2021, NIL was allowed, allowing students to benefit from their celebrity. The $2.8 billion House settlement took effect July 1, allowing schools to pay athletes directly for the first time in history.
Calipari was hired by Arkansas in April 2024, a day after stepping down from the Kentucky program he led to the 2012 NCAA championship. He is the winningest active coach in men’s basketball and the elite recruiter has seen top players come and go. Yet modernizing college athletics has become impossible.
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Coach after coach, from Miami’s Jim Larrañaga to Virginia’s Tony Bennett to Villanova’s Jay Wright and others, have all walked away from the game in recent years, saying it no longer has the appeal it once did. Some blamed the transfer portal for the added stress — Michigan State coach Tom Izzo has called the portal a “urinal” — and the pressure to compete for players with money, a topic that extends beyond just basketball.
“If someone puts their name in the portal, I say, ‘You’re not coming back,’ because it’s not going to be a transactional thing,” Calipari said. ‘In that last place where you will be, will they be faithful to you? No, you’re a mercenary.’
Calipari said he is not against transfers, but “you just can’t transfer four times because it’s not good for you. Four schools in four years, you’ll never get a college degree.”
He supported the NCAA’s position that athletes get five years of eligibility for four seasons, a guideline that is currently being challenged in multiple lawsuits.
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“Why would kids want to stay in school for five extra years? For money,” Calipari said. “Well, we have to say you have five years to play four, and that’s it. That’s it. If we get those two things right, we’re on our way to getting better.”
Calipari said he wants to have a positive influence on the next generation of players and coaches, including his son and Arkansas assistant coach Brad Calipari.
“Part of the reason I’m still doing this is because my son is coaching,” he said. “(Houston coach) Kelvin Sampson and I just talked. I said, ‘We’ve got to work out some of these things before we go out for our own kids.'”
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