Arkansas’ Calipari has ‘big’ goals, urges players to ‘think like kings’

John Calipari wants his Arkansas Razorbacks to think big.

The Hall of Fame coach is certainly used to big thoughts and expectations from his days at Kentucky. Now, Calipari has virtually built an entirely new Razorbacks roster since his hiring in April, with only forward Trayvon Brazile returning after testing the NBA waters.

He takes over a program that made it to back-to-back Elite Eights and a Sweet 16 trip last season. Outside expectations were already there, but most of the roster was put together by Calipari and his staff.

It certainly doesn’t show a lack of talent.

“It was just a few months ago, I left with no team, no staff and no schedule and now we’re talking about … how we can bring them together but think bigger,” Calipari said in a news release. Monday conference. “You think big but you do bigger things. It’s not delusional. You’re not dreaming. It’s about what you’re trying to achieve for yourself.

“I’m trying to get them to think like kings, because kings think differently.”

If Arkansas isn’t basketball royalty like Kentucky, the Razorbacks have reached six Final Fours, won the national title in 1994 and returned to the title game a year later.

Calipari, 65 and the winningest active coach in men’s college basketball, is no stranger to chasing championships and NCAA Tournament berths with largely new but talented rosters. This is a dramatic change even for him.

Calipari brought in Tennessee transfer Jonas Idu, former Florida Atlantic star Johnelle Davis and three of his players from Kentucky: DJ Wagner, Adu Thiero and Jvonimir Ivicic. Calipari signed three five-star prospects, with point guards Boogie Fland, Carter Knox and Billy Richmond III rated among the ESPN 100 recruits in the 2024 class.

Plus, there’s Brazil, who has explored both the NBA draft and possible transfers. The 6-foot-10, 220-pounder averaged 8.6 points and 5.9 rebounds last season. Brazile called it a “no-brainer” to return under Calipari, who was hired after Eric Musselman left to take over in Southern California.

Not that Calipari wasn’t familiar with Brazil before arriving in Fayetteville, but the forward has made an impression ever since.

“About halfway through the summer, he just came up to me and said, ‘Man, you’re better than I thought,'” Brazile said. “I just told him, ‘I told you so.'”

Arkansas gave Calipari a five-year contract through April 2029 with an annual base salary of $7 million with a maximum of two automatic rollover years for NCAA Tournament appearances that would extend the contract through 2031.

Bigger money brings bigger ambitions of a national title, which would be the second for both Arkansas and Calipari.

Calipari said he can feel the excitement around the program, campus and even the state. He doesn’t want fans to expect a bump-free road but he won’t set their expectations straight either.

Not with a coach who has led three programs to a total of six Final Fours and three national championship games — Massachusetts, Memphis and Kentucky.

“I’ve got a big job here, to get this thing right and have people look at us and say, what are they doing? How do they do that?” Kalipari Md. “People look at it and say, ‘Wow, here it goes again.'”

The Associated Press contributed to this report