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Calipari reiterates frustration with portal, speaks on future timeline

Originally posted on Arkansas Razorbacks on SI
By Daniel Shi | Last updated Jul 17, 2025 3:25 PM ET

Arkansas coach John Calipari teased last year that there was no way he would be at Arkansas for 12 years, which is understandable for someone who will turn 67 before the college basketball season ends.

But in a conversation with CBS's Jon Rothstein, Calipari at least left the door open that he might not even last two years, despite signing a five-year deal last offseason to come coach the Razorbacks after 15 seasons at Kentucky.

"If I can't impact kids, this will be my last year," Calipari said. "What I mean by that is we've got to get these rules in check so coaches still coach and still impact young people, not have them leave every year."

Calipari reiterated that he still has the passion to coach the players, and in the open media practice on July 9, Calipari was the most actively engaged among all the coaches on staff throughout the 60-minute window. What has drawn the ire of Calipari, particularly in recent weeks, is the openness of the portal.

"If you come in and watch us practice, you can see how locked in they are to me and the staff. Well, then I'll keep going because I think I can still help kids. If it is because of NIL, the transfer portal, and stuff like that, why would I still do this? I wouldn't."

Calipari, known for always recruiting some of the best freshmen in the country, brings in another class full of young talent in Meleek Thomas, Darius Acuff Jr. and Isaiah Sealy, but has become increasingly annoyed at the decreasing value of domestic high school players.

"We can't be coaching against 28 year olds," Calipari said. Are we nuts? We're getting away from freshman recruiting. There are a thousand United States of America freshman who aren't being recruited because everybody's saying, 'I'm gonna take an older kid. Why would I use my rev share on an 18-year old, 17-year old when I don't know if he can help?'"

There is just one 28-year old in college basketball this year and he's not on Calipari's schedule. Ramel Bethea is a 28-year old freshman that spent five years in the U.S. military before returning to college to play for University of Wisconsin Green Bay. It's similar to how Arkansas wide receiver Monte Harrison pursued a career in professional baseball before returning to college as a freshman.

The oldest player in the 2025 NCAA Tournament was BYU's Trevin Knell, who was 26 because he spent two years on a mission. The 2025-26 season will also be the first year that there will be no more players who are eligible for the extra COVID-19 season that they got from the 2020 NCAA Tournament being cancelled.

"Let's get this solved," Calipari said. "70 percent of our issues go away. The money is what it is. I

always say kids deserve the money. But the way we're doing this, we're hurting
kids, not helping kids. They should be able to transfer at any point one time."

Calipari went back to a familiar line of helping 20-30 families, but planted the seed that the current rules of college basketball may leave him no choice but to stop before that happens