PROVIDENCE, R.I. — When Arkansas beat Georgia 68-65 on Jan. 22 in Fayetteville, it was cause for an atypical in-season celebration. One of the March or April variety — something John Calipari almost never does.
The Razorbacks were 12-7 by the end of that night but still on track to be an embarrassing flop in Year 1 in Calipari’s tenure. They’d started 0-5 in the SEC and were averaging only 64 points on 38% shooting. The team looked like a mess. But that win against Georgia was the team’s first in league play, so Calipari bought champagne and they rejoiced as if they’d won an SEC title.
Really?
“Oh yeah — hell yeah,” a damp, victorious Calipari told CBS Sports on his walk to the car in the back of Amica Mutual Pavilion Saturday. Daylight fading, the glare beaming off his face, he added: “My thought was, I’m building a program and it’s Year 1 and I don’t want to go overboard and go crazy — I just didn’t expect us to be 0-5. I said, ‘This is going to be harder than I thought.'”
Arkansas lost three days later at home to Oklahoma, and at 1-6 in the SEC, the dreaded return to Rupp Arena loomed heavy up next. Calipari had to wait a full week between games before returning to the place he coached for 15 years and left for, practically in the cover of night, last April at the Final Four.
Almost nobody thought Arkansas was beating Kentucky back on Feb. 1. But beat Kentucky it did, 89-79, and the Razorbacks’ season was flipped for good because of it. The Hogs have gone 10-5 since that night, the 10th win coming Saturday in Providence against No. 2 seed St. John’s 75-66 in the second round of the West Region.
A win at Kentucky in February.
A victory over Rick Pitino in March.
John Calipari, who has now led four different programs to the Sweet 16, has once again triumphed when many assumed the opposite.
The 66-year-old finds himself in a season of redemption that is so fitting for a fascinating…
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