5. Calipari the Master Craftsman
Coming out of his Wildcat divorce, Cal had multiple reasons why his Midas touch for March Madness waned in recent years. COVID made his specialty of recruiting one-and-done freshmen obsolete since his last Final Four appearance in 2018. When matched up with older more experienced COVID seniors in the NCAA tournament, his freshmen were apt to have a bad game and it happened more early and often than not over the last seven years.
But as the old adage goes, "A good craftsman never blames his tools." The COVID seniors are going the way of the dinosaurs just like excuses in Kentucky. Critics of Calipari's late tenure at Kentucky often said talent was not issue. Instead, they pointed to Cal's refusal to fire assistants or adapt to the more fluent offenses re-emerging in college basketball. When Cal came to Arkansas, he doubled down by staying loyal and rehiring those assistants.
"These guys are showing me new stuff, I'm stopping and saying 'I like that better, let's change. What he just did that's how we're gonna do this.'" #WPS
— Pig Trail Nation (@PigTrailNation) October 15, 2024
John Calipari took the podium at SEC Media Days this afternoon, see what he had to say below ⤵️⤵️https://t.co/DF4IBJdJbm pic.twitter.com/QzcKxlMXhs
The verdict on the virtues of Calipari's loyalty is still questioned by some — even some outside of Kentucky. There's nothing like a good threshing through the SEC to separate the wheat from a sows ear. Time will tell everyone who got the better end of the stick in what is likely to be the final chapter of John Calipari's storied career. But if he's still dancing at the end of this SEC season and his tenure at Arkansas, even his most jilted lovers haters bend the knee and kiss the don's ring.