PROVIDENCE, R.I. — John Calipari is headed to the Sweet 16, and it might actually be the sweetest trip of his illustrious coaching career.
After early NCAA Tournament exits defined the final years of his tenure at Kentucky, the first-year Arkansas coach finds himself through to the second weekend of March Madness after his 10th-seeded Razorbacks outlasted No. 2 seed St. John’s, 75-66, here on Saturday afternoon.
“This is as rewarding a year as I have had based on how far we’ve come,” Calipari said. “This team found a way to become one heartbeat — and that was so enjoyable and rewarding for me.”
Veteran guard Johnell Davis was one of three scorers in double figures on Saturday for Arkansas, which led by as many as 13 points in the second half but had to hold off a frantic comeback bid by the Johnnies late to secure the victory.
The Razorbacks’ length and athleticism clearly bothered a St. John’s team that had prided itself in both its tenacious defense and its ability to get to the basket. Life was much more difficult than usual in the paint on both ends of the floor, particularly with the officials calling it tight. The St. John’s offense sputtered as a whole with its season on the line, shooting just 28 percent — a dreadful 21-of-75 — in the game. The Red Storm grabbed 28 offensive rebounds, which led to 12 more attempted field goals than Arkansas had, and still couldn’t buy a basket.
It was a much-ballyhooed matchup between two Hall of Fame head coaches, and once again Calipari got the better of his old rival, Rick Pitino. Calipari now owns a 17-13 edge over Pitino head-to-head over the course of their long careers. And it was a most unexpected matchup, a gift from the basketball gods, between two coaches in the process of reinventing themselves — Pitino, taking a record sixth program to the NCAA Tournament by reinvigorating the long-dormant St. John’s program, and Calipari, facing a brand-new challenge after 15 years of ups and downs at the helm at Kentucky.
No one knew exactly what to expect from Calipari’s first season in Fayetteville, though. He certainly didn’t, reminding himself over and over this year that he needed to be patient. He needed to be at peace, understanding that just because he’d had so much success for so many years didn’t mean it would happen overnight at Arkansas.
“Every one of us, including me, had doubts,” Calipari said. “We all had to convince ourselves that we were going to do this. … I didn’t want the albatross around my neck of my history of coaching. ‘You’re supposed to win every game.’ No, no, you’re not, (I’d tell myself). Your job is to be about those kids and wherever the program is at that time. Your job is to keep picking them up.”
There was that 0-5 start in Southeastern Conference play. All the injuries these Razorbacks sustained (and still are working through now, with arguably their best all-around player, Adou Thiero, out). The pressure that the highly touted freshmen faced, the weight of expectation tied to their lucrative name, image and likeness (NIL) deals. And, on top of that, the historically deep league that spit Arkansas out into the NCAA Tournament as a double-digit seed — one that drew Bill Self’s Kansas team and then Pitino’s St. John’s squad.
“I’m kind of back to the roots of being the underdog,” Calipari said before the tournament began. “This was one of those years that was so rewarding. All I’m thinking about is where we were — threw us in the coffin, forgot the nails. No chance of the NCAA tournament and all of a sudden we’re here.”
And they’re not done yet. They’re still here. Arkansas will face Texas Tech in San Francisco with a spot in the Elite Eight on the line.
“If you really want to bust out, you have to take some knocks and then overcome them to know you can — because the whole career (these players are) going to have in basketball is going to be like that,” Calipari said. “Can you overcome the bad spells? Can you be so confident and fall back on your training?”
Could his players come together to do it? Through injuries that cost them their leading scorers for stretches of the season. Through turnovers and other growing pains. Through one-on-one meetings and the coaches’ pushes and pulls.
“(By the end of the year), they knew that we absolutely need each other, that we’re going down together,” Calipari said. “And they became one heartbeat.”
