Why John Calipari will have huge success with Arkansas basketball

High school recruiting will be elite for Arkansas

Yes, Calipari must adapt and start to dabble in the transfer portal so that his teams can be older and more mature. However, he isn't going to completely abandon the high school ranks and as a result, Arkansas will see its recruiting become elite.

Calipari took over at Kentucky in 2009. Since then, his lowest-ranked recruiting class was No. 6 in the nation.

What's more, in seven of those years, Kentucky has had the No. 1 class in America. That's the best recruiting track record of any coach in America.

Additionally, seven of the top-20 ranked recruits in the history of Kentucky basketball were recruited to Lexington by Coach Cal. In other words, bringing elite talent to Arkansas won't be a problem for the new man in charge.

There shouldn't be any question as to whether or not elite talent will come to Arkansas. After all, Eric Musselman's 2022 class was ranked second in the nation.

So when you combine what Arkansas has built already through its N.I.L. collective and what Cal has proven he can do on the recruiting trail, there's no doubt that the high school talent will flock to Fayetteville in the next few years. In fact, the only question is whether or not Calipari might actually outdo what he did in that regard in Lexington.