Arkansas’ John Calipari Says He’d Retire Before Becoming ‘Transactional’ in NIL Transfer Portal Era

This season, Arkansas coach John Calipari marks 34 years on the sidelines of college basketball. With other old guard coaches retiring from the sport by the year, those unable or unwilling to fully embrace the NIL era and revenue sharing may soon be extinct. And Calipari made it clear during SEC Media Days Tuesday that he is part of that contingent.

Impending retirement may not be on the table for the three-time National Coach of the Year, but if his methodology proves untenable, he said he would call it a career.

“I want to help another 25 to 30 families,” Calipari said. “The only way you can do that is to be transformational as a coach. You’re not transactional. If I become transactional – I’m going to pay you this to do this and that – then I’m not going to do this anymore. That’s not necessary.”

Calipari’s final years at Kentucky had a clear ceiling, and many attributed his early-round exit from the NCAA Tournament to his staunch commitment to an outdated model. Calipari was as successful as they came when recruiting one-and-done elite high school prospects was a surefire method to reaching the Final Four. But as the transfer portal pushed teams to stock up on veteran standouts and led to veteran teams winning championships, Calipari fell behind.

“I think everyone said I’ve done what I do, and I’m not willing to do ‘all this’ to stay in the business,” Calipari said. “If you saw us in practice, you’d say, ‘He’s still connected.’ I will now be the first to know that it is a transaction. That’s why when someone put their name in the portal, I said, ‘You’re not coming back,’ because it won’t be a transactional thing. If this is what you want, let’s go, let’s work together.”

Most first-year coaches use transfer talent to build their debut rosters. Despite inheriting an empty locker room at Arkansas, Calipari took only two transfers from programs not named Kentucky. High school recruits, and those who followed him from his old school, made up his Sweet 16 team.

One of the “transactional” elements of college basketball that Calipari says he disagrees with is the constant switching from program to program in search of paydays. Players who want to use every last ounce of their eligibility to capitalize on their earning potential also don’t fit the Calipari model. The second-year Razorbacks coach wants to reform that reality on a sport-wide level.

“Part of the reason I’m still doing this is because my son is coaching,” Calipari said. “We have to work through some of these things before we go out for our own kids. Right now we want to take the things we’re dealing with to other people, but the matter is filtered down to the coach and coaches. …

“Why would kids want to stay in school for five extra years? For money. Well, we have to say, ‘You have five years to play four, and that’s it.’ If we get these two things right, we are on our way to getting better.”