John Calipari is one of the most respected people in college basketball. He started his coaching career with Kansas as an assistant in 1982. After another assistant coaching stint, he also coached the New Jersey Nets (Brooklyn Nets now) in the NBA. He was also an assistant coach at the Philadelphia 76ers. After long coaching stints at Memphis and Kentucky, he joined Arkansas in 2024.
He won the NCAA title in 2012. Apart from that, his esteemed career includes six Final Four appearances, 3x Naismith College Coach of the Year awards, and multiple other achievements.
So when John Calipari is mad about something in the NCAA, it certainly is pretty bad. Earlier, he made his feelings known about teams signing players. He went off on Baylor signing ex-NBA draftee James Nnaji. Now, he has sounded off on the core issue of the lack of rules in the NCAA. Calipari also took a stand to defend high school kids.
“There aren’t going to be any high school kids. Who other than dumb people like me are going to recruit high school kids. I get so much satisfaction out of coaching young kids and seeing them grow and make it. And their family life changes. That I’m going to keep doing it. But why would anybody else, if you can get NBA players, G League players, guys that are 28 years old, guys from Europe, do we really know their transcripts? Do we know their birth certificate or don’t we?” Calipari said.
“Tommy Izzo, Mark Few, there are a bunch of us that are just, we got no rules,” Calipari continued. He was furious that there are no regulations about age in college basketball right now. He also complained how he has friends who feel bad that they are playing against 27-year-olds. He extended his message that they shouldn’t feel bad because it is NCAA’s fault. The rules are the rules,” he added.
“If your name is in that draft, and you got drafted, you can’t play college basketball,” John Calipari then sternly said to improve college basketball.
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Fans React to John Calipari’s Rant About College Basketball
Fans online were in full support of what John Calipari was furious about and what he demanded from the NCAA.
“Coach is right. Once you go pro, you give up college eligibility,” one fan said.
“Extremely proud of Cal for standing up for college sports. Someone had to say it,” one fan expressed his view.
“Coach has a lot of wisdom on these matters. Unfortunately, no one is going to listen to him, because money talks,” one fan claimed.
“Preach!! Someone needs to step up and fix this,” another commented.
“The NCAA is becoming a joke,” another fan expressed anger.
“They need to change the rules. If you play in a G league or any professional league, you should not be eligible for college sports,” another agreed with John Calipari.
Read more:
Can NBA Players Still Play in College? NCAA Statement Provides Insight
NC State HC Will Wade Sounds Off on “Casual Personalities” on His Team; Attacks Team’s 3+ GPA
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