Arkansas is in the Sweet 16 and, after his shocking leave at Kentucky a year ago, Calipari is once again finding ways to prove a lot of people wrong

The nicknames and comparisons followed John Calipari wherever he went. He was “The next Rick Pitino” or “Rick Pitino’s clone,” and it was time to have some fun. It was the day before Calipari’s Massachusetts Minutemen met Pitino’s Kentucky Wildcats in a 1992 Sweet 16 at the Spectrum,

As soon as the words, “Rick Pitino and St. John’s,” aired across the CBS broadcast to announce the Johnnies’ seeding in the 2025 NCAA Tournament, the crowd tuning into Selection Sunday inside Rupp Arena got loud.