John Calipari and Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek are getting along excellently. During an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show,” the Arkansas head coach pulled back the curtain on his relationship with Yurachek.
“He does an awesome job,” Calipari said of Yurachek. “He calls me four times a week in the morning, saying ‘What can I do to help?’ What!”
According to reports, Calipari left Kentucky partially due to a dysfunctional relationship with athletic director Mitch Barnhart. Calipari was reportedly unhappy with the NIL efforts at the university and grew frustratedwith Barnhart after he did not approve construction of a new practice facility.
Calipari will run into no such barriers at Arkansas. The program boasts the Eddie Sutton Men’s Basketball Practice Gym, which includes two full-court gymnasiums, locker rooms, a weight room, an athletic training room, coaches’ offices, team meeting rooms, a student-athlete lounge, study areas and an equipment room.
Calipari is seemingly ecstatic with his new environment.
“I want to do this one more time and this was the time to do it and Arkansas was the place,” Calipari said. “We’re in the SEC — unbelievable facilities. NIL’s not an issue. I don’t have to go do it myself. And you ready for this? I hired my son. I couldn’t do it at Kentucky. I hired my son. He’s on my staff. I’m helping all these coaches and all these players. How about I help my son?”
John Calipari reveals new roster philosophies
The colors Calipari will wear this winter aren’t the only things that have changed. In a conversation with Jim Rome earlier this month, the 65-year-old head coach revealed how his perspective on roster construction has changed.
“I can’t recruit seven freshmen on my team. I can’t do it anymore because teams are too old,” Calipari said. “My average age on my team last year was 19.4. The teams that we were playing against were 24 years old.
“Kids—because of NIL—don’t ever want to leave. ‘How else can I stay two more years.’ Here’s the point. We were all in school, fighting to get out. They’re all fighting to stay in.”
Arkansas has added fifth-year senior Johnell Davis, senior Jonas Aidoo and junior Adou Thiero via the NCAA Transfer Portal. The three upperclassmen boast a combined 263 game appearances and 117 starts in their careers.
Arkansas also added Kentucky transfers Zvonimir Ivisic and DJ Wagner, who will be sophomores in the 2024-25 season. The roster will be a stark contrast to Calipari’s typical rosters that are loaded with first-year talent.
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