Arkansas basketball coach John Calipari’s motivation to fix college basketball

According to John Calipari, college hoops needs fixing.

At SEC Media Days on Tuesday, Oct. 14, the Arkansas basketball coach was asked if he knew how much longer he wanted to stay in the sport. Calipari responded with his repeated mantra of wanting to help 25-30 more families before providing a new motivation in his career.

Calipari said that before he strode to the podium as the Razorbacks‘ representative at the league’s signature preseason event, he had a phone call with Houston coach Kelvin Sampson. The two titans of the sport believe that widespread changes are necessary, and they both want to spearhead a new era for their son’s futures in college basketball.

“Part of the reason I’m still doing this, my son’s in coaching,” Calipari said. “Kelvin Sampson and I just talked. I said, ‘we got to fix some of this stuff before we’re out for our own children.'”

Calipari’s son, Brad Calipari, is about to start his second season as an assistant coach at Arkansas. Sampson’s son, Kellen Sampson, joined his father’s coaching staff at Houston in 2014. They’ll be part of the next generation when NIL and the transfer portal feel more like the norm than the current Wild West.

John proceeded to outline his desired changes. He thinks the crux of the sport’s issues come from the transfer portal. John believes every college athlete should be able to transfer once, but any other transfers in a player’s career should require a year on the sidelines.

He also thinks there should be a limit on how long an athlete can play college sports. There is growing momentum and an ongoing lawsuit to allow players five seasons of eligibility. John said he would need more information before agreeing with that proposal. He wants to know what would happen if an athlete gets hurt twice in their career. For now, John disagrees with the idea, thinking athletes should have five years to complete four seasons.

“If we get those two things in order, we’re on the path to being better,” John said.

The Arkansas coach also reiterated his opposition to NCAA Tournament expansion.

“I just think you leave it how it is,” he said. “Because if it’s not broken, you know, go with the known. Leave the unknown alone.”

There are plenty of unknowns in the world of college sports. Before John finishes his Hall of Fame career that spans more than five decades, he wants to leave the arena in a healthy place for his son Brad and the future coaches to come.

Jackson Fuller covers Arkansas football, basketball and baseball for the Southwest Times Record, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at jfuller@gannett.com or follow him @jacksonfuller16 on X, formerly known as Twitter.