John Calipari sounds off on college basketball eligibility: ‘We don’t have any rules’
By David Wasson
Published:
Arkansas coach John Calipari has been in the business of basketball in one form or another since 1978 and has seen his share of dances with and around the NCAA revolving rules issues.
On Monday, the Basketball Hall of Famer sounded off on the amorphous state of college basketball eligibility rules, unleashing a nearly 7-minute rant that took aim at European players who operate under different guidelines.
“I’ve got friends who are playing with 27-year-olds, and they feel bad. I said ‘Don’t feel bad. We don’t have any rules. Why should you feel bad?’” Calipari said after his 18th-ranked Razorbacks thumped James Madison 103-74. “But let me give you this, real simple: the rules bes the rules. If you put your name in the draft, I don’t care if you’re from Russia, and you stay in the draft – you can’t play college basketball. ‘Well that’s only for American kids.’ What?
“Now, here’s the next lawsuit. ‘Well, we don’t have a say over European players.’ You do if they are playing basketball. … If he puts his name in the draft, he can’t go to college!”
Calipari also sounded off about how he gains satisfaction – not to mention a $7 million annual salary at Arkansas – from coaching young people toward success.
“Does anybody care what this is doing for 17- and 18-year-old American kids. There aren’t going to be any high school kids. Who, other than dumb people like me, are going to recruit high school kids,” Calipari said. “I get so much satisfaction out of coaching young kids and seeing them grow and make it and their family life changes, that I am going to keep doing it.
“But why would anyone else, if you can get NBA players, G-League players, guys that are 28 years old, guys from Europe – do we really know their transcript? Do we have someone over there? Do we really know their birth certificate, or don’t we? … We got no rules.”
An APSE national award-winning writer and editor, David Wasson has almost four decades of experience in the print journalism business in Florida and Alabama. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and several national magazines and websites. He also hosts Gulfshore Sports with David Wasson, weekdays from 3-5 pm across Southwest Florida and on FoxSportsFM.com. His Twitter handle: @JustDWasson.
