John Calipari shares early impressions of High Point matchup
By Jacob Moss
Published:
John Calipari may not be roaming the sidelines for the Kentucky Wildcats anymore, but he still has a top SEC program primed for what could be a very deep run in the NCAA Tournament in just his second season with the Arkansas Razorbacks.
After an up-and-down regular season, Cal and the Hogs ran through the SEC tournament for their first conference title since 2000, and they made very quick work of Hawaii in the first round of the tourney on Thursday afternoon.
Arkansas is now set for a second round show down against the High Point Panthers, who upset the Wisconsin Badgers in their first round meeting, and Cal made it known that he isn’t looking past this mid-major foe.
“I’ve got 3 tapes that I’ve got to watch of High Point,” Calipari said during his post-game presser on Thursday. “They’re good. Wisconsin found out they are good, and they are not afraid. I recruited Cam (Fletcher) to Kentucky so I know how good he is… We’re not walking in thinking ‘Okay, well this will be an easy one.’ None of them are easy.”
Cal has certainly suffered his fair share of early exits from the tourney, and he doesn’t seem to be keen on letting his guys look past a team that just handed a 5 seed a shocking first-round upset.
It will be interesting to see how he prepares SEC Player of the Year Darius Acuff and the rest of the Hogs’ talented roster for what’s sure to be a very tough second-round test against a dangerous Panthers’ squad.
