With four five-star recruits, John Calipari has shown that he is one of the best recruiters in college basketball history. No. 2 overall Jordan Smith Jr. is the highest-ranked member of his recruiting class, along with other five-stars like Miikka Muurinen, JJ Andrews and Abdou Traore.
This has led him to have the No. 1 recruiting class for 2026, beating even Duke. Calipari now has the record for the most No. 1 recruiting classes in college basketball history with nine.
However, Calipari, who has produced some of the best players in the NBA, is also known for not winning. This record of getting and developing good players but ultimately not winning the national title has not impressed many fans and they believe his haul of incoming freshmen will ultimately lead to him once again exiting March Madness.
“Biggest choke job coach in the country. One title for almost 20 straight top 3 classes. No one does it like Cal,” one Kentucky fan pointed out.
“And will loose in the the 1st round to ST. Peters or Oakland. Same song and dance.,” added another critic.
“Dude has done less with more than any coach in the history of the game,” another person noted.
“Hasn’t this already been tried at UK under Cal? Thought he’d learn not just to stock up on freshman or just athletic players. Teams that recruit role players that fit into the team have the greatest success,” asked one fan.
“And an early exit from the dance again, with all that talent. PayPalCal can’t coach,” said another person.
“still won’t win the natty he’s a good recruiter not coach,” one person added.
John Calipari did win one national title when he was still with Kentucky, but he has not delivered despite having players like Derrick Rose, DeMarcus Cousins, Karl-Anthony Towns, Devin Booker and more. He won it with Anthony Davis back in 2012.
Looking at John Calipari’s No. 1 Recruiting Classes
John Calipari has been known more as a recruiting and development coach than a winning coach, being responsible for some of the biggest stars in the NBA today. With this latest recruiting class, this is now his ninth time assembling one. Here are his recruiting classes that were ranked No. 1:
- 2009: John Wall, Demarcus Cousins, Eric Bledsoe
- 2010: Brandon Knight, Terrence Jones
- 2011: Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Marquis Teague
- 2012: Nerlens Noel, Alex Poythress, Archie Goodwin, Willie-Cauley Stein
- 2013: Julius Randle, Andrew Harrison, Aaron Harrison
- 2015: Skai Labissiere, Jamal Murray
- 2020: Brandon Boston Jr., Terrence Clarke
- 2023: Justin Edwards, DJ Wagner, Rob Dillingham, Reed Sheppard.
- 2026: Jordan Smith Jr., Miikka Muurinen, JJ Andrews, Abdou Toure
This is the first time he has done this in Arkansas, with him getting eight No. 1 classes when he was still the head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats.
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