John Calipari addresses New York Knicks opening, says he’s committed to Arkansas
By Andrew Olson
Published:
John Calipari thinks highly of the New York Knicks job, but says he is happy at Arkansas.
The head coach of the Razorbacks was asked about the Knicks opening during a Wednesday appearance on FanDuel Sports Network’s Golic and Golic.
I’ve been at Arkansas one year. People are totally committed and committed to me, personally,” Calipari said, per CBS Sports. “I’m coaching at Arkansas, but they have a great organization, they got a terrific team. But it’s not for everybody, now. You guys know, coaching the Knicks is like coaching — there’s some college teams, I would say, not for everybody, and that one isn’t for everybody.
“But you have everything you need to win, and you have New York City. So, someone’s going to get a hell of a job.
The Knicks are getting deep into their search to find a new head coach. On Wednesday night, it was reported that the Chicago Bulls denied New York the opportunity to speak with Billy Donovan.
It’s not hard to see why Calipari’s name would potentially come up. He has NBA experience as head coach of the then-New Jersey Nets (1996-99) and as an assistant with the Philadelphia 76ers (1999-2000).
An NBA team, though, would hope that Calipari could recreate his college success. While Calipari was 72-112 in 2-plus NBA seasons, he is 835-275 coaching at the level. A 2015 Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, Calipari is a 3-time Naismith Coach of the Year and 4-time SEC Coach of the Year. He has guided his teams to 6 Final Fours and the 2012 national title (Kentucky).
As far as Arkansas, Calipari led the Razorbacks to a 22-14 record in 2024-25. The Hogs overcame a rough start to conference play to not only make the NCAA Tournament, but advance to the Sweet 16 as a 10-seed. Arkansas’s tournament draw included Bill Self’s Kansas team and No. 2 seed St. John’s, coached by Rick Pitino.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
