John Calipari has been around this thing for a long time. He’s seen college basketball evolve throughout the years, and he’s always been at the forefront of it.
Largely known as one of the best recruiters in the country, the head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks doesn’t sound 100 percent convinced about the direction college basketball is going, though.
Recently giving his thoughts to the media, Calipari believes that there’s an age problem in college basketball.
Teams that recruit high schoolers heavily, which is something Calipari has always done, are younger and less experienced. Meanwhile, some programs almost exclusively use NIL and the transfer portal to fill their rosters, meaning they can essentially field a college team full of grown men.
Extended eligibility, NIL money and what has basically become a yearly offseason “free agency” thanks to the transfer portal have all played into this phenomenon.
“There are a lot of older gentlemen with beards playing basketball in college right now,” Calipari said in a news conference over the weekend. “The one that’s crazy, the guy comes in, and he’s waving to his kids up in the seats. And you’re like, ‘Wait a minute. The guy’s got two kids. He’s still playing college basketball.’ Crazy thing. He’s using NIL for his first wife’s alimony, and now he’s still playing college basketball. Are we nuts?”
John Calipari bemoans age discrepancies in college basketball
Calipari was specifically talking after his Razorbacks beat Fresno State, 82-58. His team avoided the upset, but he was asked about several of the surprising results from the early season, and this age disparity in the sport was his best explanation.
Arkansas is one of the youngest teams in the SEC, and while youth comes with energy and motivation, it also means that the Razorbacks will lack experience in big-time matchups.
That lack of experience can hurt a team like Arkansas in games they should win, though. Again, they didn’t falter against Fresno State, but these kinds of games can be a trap for younger teams.
“Last year every team was old in our league. They were old,” he said. “And so now, you’re going to have those kinds of things. And you’re also going to have a team like a Fresno beat somebody because they’ve got all grad students, seniors, and their average age is 25, and your average age is 19 or 20.”
Perhaps it’s just the way things are, and Coach Cal does seem a bit resigned to that fact. He clearly believes change is possible, though. Perhaps, as always, he’ll be at the forefront of that change as he continues to talk about the downfalls of what feels like unlimited eligibility for college athletes.
“Until we fix the eligibility thing, this is what it is,” he said.
