John Calipari represents Arkansas brand at NBA Draft

Arkansas head coach John Calipari has been a household name in college basketball for a long time, boasting star-studded success at the collegiate level, as well as with NBA draft picks.

With two of his former players selected in Wednesday night’s first round of the 2024 NBA Draft — freshmen Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham — Calipari has had at least one of his players drafted in every single NBA Draft since 2008, dating back to his time as the head coach at Memphis.

The new Head Hog spent time Wednesday evening being there for his former players, but he also put the Arkansas brand in the spotlight, most notably by joining the ABC broadcast set for a brief chat.

Sheppard and Dillingham were the 42nd and 43rd all-time NBA Draft picks coached by Calipari, which is second only to former Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski, who had 46 in his career.

Four of Calipari’s draft picks — Anthony Davis, Karl-Anthony Towns, Derrick Rose and John Wall — were taken with the first overall pick in the draft.

Calipari was on ESPN’s The Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday afternoon to preview the NBA Draft, which had the first round held Wednesday, and talked about how it’s his program’s culture that keeps his draft machine running.

“I’m not a magician, I don’t have a magic wand,” Calipari said. “It’s all about the culture. A bunch of really good players come together. We’ve had four-star guys (become) lottery picks, not in the McDonald’s All-American Game (become) lottery picks, because the cream rises. It’ll always rise.”

Of course, it’s hard to talk about the amount of draft picks Calipari has produced without looking at the elephant in the room — the lack of postseason success he’s had in recent years.

Since 2020, the formerly Calipari-led Kentucky Wildcats have only won one NCAA Tournament game, and have been bounced in the first round of the tournament twice to double-digit seeded teams.

Calipari said because the game has changed with NIL and the transfer portal, he’s going to have to adapt if he wants to win another national championship — this time at Arkansas.

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“It’s just a different day and age, and my teams have to get older,” Calipari said. “We were too young last year, I had seven freshmen. Everybody else has old teams, so hopefully, I’ve learned we’re going to have a little bit more experience, yet I still want to have the best freshmen in the country.”

The roster Calipari has assembled for his inaugural season in Razorback red has a good blend of young and old. There are three freshmen — Billy Richmond, Boogie Fland and Karter Knox — who will play important roles on the team, but the rest is made up of older players.

Transfers like forward Jonas Aidoo (Tennessee) and guard Johnell Davis (Florida Atlantic) come from the transfer portal, as well as a trio of transfers from Calipari’s last team at Kentucky in forward Zvonimir Ivisic, guard DJ Wagner and forward Adou Thiero.

That blend of older transfers and freshmen are what Calipari hopes will give Arkansas a deep run in the NCAA Tournament, which will increase the number of draft picks coming from Arkansas in the 2025 NBA Draft.

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“When my teams win, six guys get drafted,” Calipari said. “How about we win? We go to a Final Four, we win a national title, all six or seven of you will eat … winning matters.”

Calipari did talk about the 15 years he spent at Kentucky. He said he had a great time in Lexington, but he’s excited for the next chapter at Arkansas.

“Fifteen years, it was a great run, a lot of fun, a lot of friends,” Calipari said. “But you know what? I want to do this one more time, and Arkansas was the place.”