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Myron Medcalf, ESPN staff writer
When John Calipari entered Bud Walton Arena for his first game at Arkansas on Friday night, the home crowd erupted as the 1990s Chicago Bulls’ intro anthem played in the background.
While No. 16 Arkansas’ 85-69 win over No. 1 Kansas was a charity showing, the buzz surrounding the coach’s arrival in Fayetteville — after a long stint at Kentucky — was palpable.
But Calipari downplayed Friday’s reception, which he received from the 19,200 fans who attended the sold-out event.
“I haven’t lost a game,” he said of the crowd’s favorable response.
Although both teams were short-handed — Tennessee transfer Jonas Idu did not play for Arkansas, and Hunter Dickinson and Alabama transfer Rylan Griffen were both out for Kansas — Friday marked a new chapter for Calipari and Arkansas. His rocky exit at Kentucky unfolded after a string of Final Four appearances followed in 2012 with a national title and multiple first-round exits in the NCAA Tournament.
But he regrouped quickly at Arkansas, where five-star prospect Boogie Fland, former Kentucky guard DJ Wagner and veteran Johnelle Davis, a standout at Florida Atlantic in the 2023 Final Four, anchor his new squad.
Wagner and Fland scored 46 points against a Kansas team that was without two of its best players. But Arkansas has dealt with multiple injuries; Calipari said his team hasn’t been able to practice at all for the past two weeks.
“We played against (graduate assistants),” Calipari said after the game, which helped raise money for children’s hospitals in the teams’ respective communities.
Although his Kansas team struggled in the four-quarter showing (3-for-7-23), Jayhawks coach Bill Self said he wasn’t worried about the results given his team’s personnel challenges.
But he added that he’s not sure he’ll face a better backcourt this season than the one Arkansas boasts. He also said that Calipari’s 2024-25 Razorbacks could be one of the most talented teams of his career.
“I actually think this team is better than some teams in Kentucky,” Self said. “We’ve played them at least every year for the last 10 years. There’s been a couple of (Kentucky) teams that have been elite, elite, elite. This team, to me, has a chance to be great and maybe even more talented. Some of the teams Kentucky has had. , I think they have a real chance.”
Calipari said that analysis may be premature.
“I actually think this team is better than some of the teams he had at Kentucky. … There were some (Kentucky) teams that were elite, elite, elite. This team has a chance for me to be great. And the teams that (Calipari) had at Kentucky. Maybe even more talented than him.
Kansas coach Bill Self
“It’s too early to make that statement,” he said in response to Self’s comments. “It is too early to make this statement.”
But the energy in the crowd, and the commitment among the roster, was clear Friday, as new Arkansas beat the No. 1 team in America in its first game as coach.
“I just know when you have a really good guard, you usually have a really good team,” Calipari said.
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