Credit: Craven Whitlow
It only took one year for John Calipari’s coaching tree to grow an Arkansas branch.
Darin Minniefield, who served as a graduate assistant under the Hall of Fame coach at Kentucky and with the Razorbacks, has been hired as an assistant coach at Nicholls State.
The Colonels are led by third-year head coach Tevon Saddler, who has guided his alma mater to its first back-to-back 20-win seasons in school history and consecutive third-place finishes in the Southland Conference.
It will be Minniefield’s first full-time gig at the college level. Prior to becoming a GA, he coached in the Houston Defenders AAU organization and worked with John Lucas Enterprises.
While he had no direct ties to Arkansas before following Calipari to Fayetteville, Minniefield did have a unique connection to a legendary father-son duo for the Razorbacks.
His father, Dirk, starred at Kentucky where he threw down perhaps the rudest breakaway dunk in SEC basketball history:
40 years ago today: Dirk Minniefield of Kentucky nearly jumps out of Rupp Arena for a dunk against Mississippi State.
Wildcats 88, Bulldogs 67
February 8, 1983. pic.twitter.com/wVWcYHdS41
— NBA Cobwebs (@NBACobwebs) February 8, 2023
He later played in the NBA, where he was a teammate of Ron Brewer with the Cleveland Cavaliers. During their lone season together, the elder Minniefield actually used to babysit a young Ronnie Brewer, who worked alongside the younger Minniefield on Arkansas’ staff.
Calipari’s Philosophy with GAs
When he revealed his plan to have a shortened rotation of 8-10 contributors, John Calipari said he’d fill out his Arkansas basketball roster with walk-on types and hire graduate assistants with playing experience in college or overseas.
Darin Minniefield checked that box as a former 6-foot-2 point guard at Our Lady of the Lake and Peru State. He earned honorable mention all-conference honors at both NAIA programs.
The Razorbacks also have to replace Tony Hall, who was actually a holdover from Eric Musselman’s staff and previously starred as a 6-foot-5 guard at Arkansas Tech. He appears to have accepted a position with the Dallas Mavericks, according to his Twitter and Instagram bios.
Two other GAs are back for second seasons with the Razorbacks: Timajh Parker-Rivera and Ray Surratt.
Parker-Rivera was a three-year starter at Towson before embarking on an eight-year career playing professionally overseas. The 6-foot-7 forward even spent five years on the Puerto Rico National Team.
Surratt is the lone exception, as he didn’t play in college despite being an all-state performer in high school. Instead, he was a student manager for Calipari at Kentucky from 2021-24 and followed him to Fayetteville as a GA.
New Arkansas Basketball GAs
With two spots open, John Calipari brought in a pair of graduate assistants with ties to players he recruited to Arkansas out of the transfer portal.
Dorian Aluyi, a 6-foot-5 wing, spent two years at Minot State before becoming a two-time all-conference selection at Ferris State. The DII standout played professionally in Spain from 2022-23 before beginning his coaching career as a GA at Florida State, where he worked with new Arkansas big man Malique Ewin.
The Razorbacks’ fourth GA technically still has another year of collegiate eligibility. Following two years at Navarro C.C., Xavier Pina didn’t appear in a game during his last two seasons at Florida Gulf Coast. The 6-foot-3 guard overlapped with former Arkansas guard Johnell Davis in 2023-24.
The John Calipari Coaching Tree
Despite his status as one of the best coaches in college basketball history, John Calipari doesn’t exactly have an illustrious coaching tree.
The handful of his assistants who have gone on to become head coaches have enjoyed limited success. Here’s a look at nine of them:
Orlando Antigua: Became the head coach at South Florida following six seasons on Calipari’s staff, first at Memphis and then at Kentucky, but struggled to a 23-55 record and was fired 13 games into his third season.
Bill Bayno: An assistant for Calipari at UMass, Bayno became the head coach of UNLV in 1995. He went 94-60 with a pair of NCAA Tournament trips in five seasons, but was fired amid accusations of NCAA violations. He was later hired at Loyola Marymount in 2008, but resigned because of health reasons after only three games.
Bruiser Flint: A longtime assistant under Calipari at UMass, Flint was actually hired as Calipari’s successor with the Minutemen. He went 86-72 with two trips to the Big Dance in five years before becoming the head coach at Drexel, where he went 245-217 over 15 seasons. Flint is now the special assistant to the head coach at Arkansas.
Tony Barbee: A former player for Calipari at UMass, he also worked under his former coach with the Minutemen and at Memphis before landing the head coaching position at UTEP. He won 26 games and reached the NCAA Tournament in Year 4 with the Miners, which earned him the Auburn job. He went 49-75 with the Tigers, though, and didn’t make the postseason in any of his four seasons. After working with Calipari again at Kentucky, Barbee became the head coach at Central Michigan and was named the MAC Coach of the Year in 2024
Derek Kellogg: Another former Calipari player at UMass, Kellogg was on his staff at Memphis before becoming the head coach at his alma mater. He led the Minutemen to 155-137 record and one NCAA Tournament berth over nine seasons. Kellogg then went 74-74 in five seasons with one NCAA Tournament trip in five seasons at LIU.
Jai Lucas: After serving as an assistant under Coach Cal at UK from 2020-22, Lucas took a job under Jon Scheyer at Duke. In March, he was hired as the head coach at Miami (FL) to replace the retiring Jim Larrañaga. He is childhood friends of both Ronnie Brewer and Darin Minniefield.
Josh Pastner: Served as Calipari’s assistant at Memphis and succeeded him as head coach in 2009. Pastner compiled a 167-73 record in seven seasons, including four NCAA Tournament and two Conference USA titles. He then took the head coaching job at Georgia Tech, where he posted a 109-114 record across a much less-successful seven-season stint. He made just one NCAA Tournament appearance and was fired in 2023. Pastner now enters his first season as the head coach at UNLV.
Preston Spradlin:Â A former Calipari GA at Kentucky, Spradlin became the head coach at Morehead State in 2016, where he put together a 140-109 record with a pair of Ohio Valley Conference titles and Big Dance appearances. Last offseason, he took the job at James Madison, where he posted a 20-12 record in his first season with the Dukes.
Rod Strickland: An assistant on Coach Cal’s inaugural UK staff, Strickland got his first head coaching job at Long Island in 2022. After winning just 10 combined games in his first two seasons, the Sharks posted a 17-16 record last season. The long-time NBA point guard enters his fourth year in charge at LIU.
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