John Calipari says 2024-25 season was ‘as rewarding’ as any he’s ever had
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John Calipari said Thursday night he’s had better teams than the 2024-25 Arkansas Razorbacks, and he’s had more accomplished teams, but he hasn’t had many teams that were more rewarding as a coach.
“First of all, I told them how proud I was of them and there’s nothing they could do to disappoint me. Yeah, there were plays I wish they had done different or made, but these kids gave everything, even in this game, they gave everything they had to try to win the game,” Calipari said after an 85-83 overtime loss ended the Razorbacks’ season.
“For me, this was as rewarding a year — and I feel like crap right now — but this was as rewarding a year as I’ve had in all my years. Now, I’ve had teams that were better and finished better and national champions and all that stuff, this was a different reward. Different reward.”
Calipari has made similar comments before. After an 11-2 start to the year, Arkansas opened conference play 0-5. On Feb. 20, they were sitting at 15-11 on the season and were well outside the NCAA Tournament picture.
Arkansas closed with 7 wins over its final 10 games — 2 of them upsets at the NCAA Tournament. The Razorbacks knocked off 7-seed Kansas in the first round and then 2-seed St. John’s in the second round.
“They were also in a dark place individually, that they overcame it,” Calipari said of his team. “And I just kept talking. The first battle you have is the one with yourself. Don’t worry about battling anybody else. Battle yourself. How do you keep a good attitude? How do you understand there’s only one way to do this is work your way through it. Get in the gym. Spend more time.
“They became one heartbeat and the game became easier for each of them. Each of them did some good stuff. Every one of them played better, grew as a player, grew as a person, that’s what made it so rewarding for me because there was a chance they could have let go of the rope.”
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
