No. 10 Arkansas’ John Calipari is one of the greatest head coaches of all time.
The college basketball legend took to Twitter yesterday following the Razorbacks’ 79-72 win over the No. 7 Kansas Jayhawks to share photos of his wife and daughter in the stands of the NCAA tournament.
John Calipari Shares NCAA Tournament Memories
Coach Cal got his head coaching start in 1988 with the UMass Minutemen. He brought the team from 8th in the Atlantic 10 Conference to glory, leading them to five straight NCAA tournaments, including a later vacated Final Four in 1996.
That year, the No. 1 Minutemen finished the season 35-2, with a 15-1 record in the A-10. The first weekend of March Madness, the team was placed in the Providence region, where they throttled No. 16 UCF in the first round 92-70 and eked out a win against No. 9 Stanford in the second round, 79-74.
CBS. 1996 Providence NCAA tourney vs. 2025 Providence NCAA tourney pic.twitter.com/LkvrLYIOk1
— John Calipari (@CoachCalArk) March 21, 2025
On CBS, cameras captured his wife and sleeping daughter in the stands.
“CBS. 1996 Providence NCAA tourney vs. 2025 Providence NCAA tourney,” Calipari wrote in a tweet.
This time around, Calipari will face legendary head coach Rick Pitino and No. 2 St. John’s as his team looks to turn the corner and make the Sweet 16.
Calipari has made the Sweet 16 14 times as head coach, three times with UMass, four times as the head of the Memphis Tigers organization and seven times with the Kentucky Wildcats. His teams finished the tournament in the Elite Eight five times, advancing to the Final Four or later five times.
For Calipari, getting over the hump has been a struggle lately. Since an Elite Eight appearance with the Wildcats in 2019, his team missed the tournament once and was eliminated in the first two rounds three times.
KEEP READING: John Calipari vs. Rick Pitino: How the Two Coaching Giants Stack up
Last year, his No. 3 Wildcats were upset by No. 14 Oakland in the first round and in 2022 his No. 2 Kentucky team lost to No. 15 Saint Peter’s.
Don’t miss a moment of March Madness! Download your 2025 NCAA Tournament printable bracket and stay on top of every game, matchup, and Cinderella story. Get yours now!
