After 5 years with the Arkansas Razorback Basketball team, head coach Eric Musselman is leaving to begin coaching at USC. Headlines have been filled with rumors of the replacement, but as of April 10, Kentucky’s old coach John Calipari has signed to officially begin his work with the Hogs.
“I personally love it because he’s proven to win. I think it’s the best coach we could possibly get,” Senior Dylan Gibson said.
After positive input from Gibson, lots of students and teachers also agree that Calipari is a great option and opportunity for the Razorbacks. Teacher John Stewart thinks this season will look way better than last due to Calipari and his strengths.
“Calipari is such a good recruiter. He’ll build a solid roster and I think we’ll have a better season than we did last year, I really do,” Stewart said.
With an empty roster, the Razorback team is going to have to rebuild from scratch. However, Stewart and Will Hudson are both not worried about this due to Calipari and his reputation for creating exceptional teams.
“I’m excited for Cal to be the new head coach, I think he can use the transfer portal and get recruits better than Musselman could,” Hudson said.
After Calipari’s arrival to The Hill, lots of conferences and interviews have taken place in order for the fans and students to get a better look at who John Calipari is and his ways of coaching.
“As a razorback fan, I have been conditioned to not like him for 20 years. So it’s been a challenge to embrace him. I watched the press conference yesterday, and I watched almost the whole introduction, and the guy’s good,” Stewart said.
Kentucky and Arkansas have played against each other for years now with Calipari leading them, so this huge switch is something Hog fans will have to get used to. Due to his record and stature, there is not a lack of confidence in his ability to lead a team to victory. Hudson and Gibson have similar views on why Calipari decided to leave his team after 15 years.
“I think he needed something new. I think he was getting tired of just the same thing at Kentucky. I think he really likes it here,” Gibson said.
After a long run in Kentucky, Calipari is leaving with an overall record of 410-123. Alongside the desire of something new, Hudson believes the high pressure has pushed him over to Arkansas.
“I believe Calipari mainly took this job because his seat was hot in the UK. He has had extremely talented teams over the past couple of years and has failed to go deep into the tournament with them,” Hudson said.
Not only the pressure, payroll, and change, but Stewart mentioned Calipari’s relationship with his “buddy” John Tyson most likely had something to do with this switch. With Musselman leaving the Hogs after the end of the 2024 season, fans are disappointed and shocked at his quick turn around.
“Musselman leaving kind of caught me off guard, but you could kind of tell he was not wanting to coach here anymore, he lost interest,” Gibson said. “So, I was actually okay with him leaving because he didn’t want to be here.”
With a 111-50 overall record in Fayetteville, Musselman is leaving the Razorbacks after leading them to three NCAA tournaments, including the elite 8 two times. Fans, like Gibson, were shocked at his decision to leave but most were disappointed on how he went out.
“I still feel a little betrayed by Musselman and felt he could have done a better goodbye,” Hudson said.
A quick internet tweet, and a shout out to the Hogs, and Coach Musselman was gone. His words were short and sweet, which upset many fans especially compared to Calipari’s long, formal goodbye to his team in Kentucky.
“I didn’t like [the way Musselman left] because I feel like he didn’t say thank you in the best way,” Gibson said. “For instance, Coach Calipari gave a speech saying thank you to Kentucky fans. I wish Musselman would have done the same instead of just leaving without saying much of anything.”
Stewart was shocked mostly at where he chose to go, not as much as the fact he left Arkansas.
“I understand, he is a California guy, and maybe he’s closer to home and all that. I was just really surprised that he left. I was surprised where he ended up at USC,” Stewart said.
Eventhough Musselman is from the California area, Stewart points out that USC is not really a basketball school. Compared to Bud Waltons large arena that holds around 18,000 people, the stadium where Muss will be at holds incredibly less than he will be used to. With a new season, new team, and new coach, Hog fans are predicting what next year will be like.
“I believe this basketball season will be better than last,” Hudson said. “However, I still don’t think this season will be great, it might take 2 to 3 years for Calipari to settle into a system and be able to consistently get recruits and transfers.”
Ideas of what next year will look like are all up in the air, but all Razorback fans know is it will be different. Holding high hopes for this fresh start, Arkansas has decided to embrace the new head coach John Calipari and trust his process.
“This year, I feel like we will get a lot of great players that will play and want to win for not just themselves, but for the state and the coach too,” Gibson said.