John Calipari looks to bring fun back to Arkansas, find some for himself - ESPN

Arkansans crave relevancy. They always have. That desire is woven into their DNA, a hunger well earned.

A state so beautiful border to border, and yet too many Americans likely can't point to it on a map. A state with so much to offer, and yet so many in the Deep South can't quite bring themselves to believe that Arkansas is one of theirs, while the cowboys of the Southwest can't quite accept it as one of their territories, either. Few areas are anchored by more money (see: the Waltons, aka the Walmart folks, live there), few campuses are prettier than the one in Fayetteville, and even fewer fan bases are more rabidly loyal (see: the birthright that is the sneakily difficult correct execution of the «Woo Pig Sooie» hog call).

And that is why Arkansans have embraced John Calipari. The coach who already is in the Basketball Hall of Fame, with his national championship ring, 33 regular-season and tournament conference titles and 855 career wins, most among active coaches. Oh, and that straight out of central casting, Moon Township, Pennsylvania, Italian hoops coach accent, complete with multiple «fugazi» references when chatting about the transfer portal and so much hand movement that one might assume if he were handcuffed, he'd go mute.

It doesn't feel very Arkansas. But it didn't feel very Memphis or Kentucky, either. But he spent nearly a decade with the Tigers and then a decade and a half in Lexington, the place he departed in April to become Head Hog.

«What Cal does, just by stepping onto this campus, is he puts Arkansas basketball back into the national conversation,» said Nolan Richardson, the only coach to lead the Razorbacks to a national title, earned in 1994. Richardson still groans when he recalls his Hogs'