“John Calipari is the Doc Rivers of college basketball”: Hoops fans rip apart Arkansas HC as NCAA analyst unloads on poor season

Arkansas Razorbacks coach John Calipari continues to draw the ire of the program's fanbase amid a difficult stretch of games. The unranked team are yet to win an SEC matchup this 2024-2025 season, going 0-5 after Saturday's 83-65 loss to the Missouri Tigers.

Calipari is in his first campaign with the program after spending the last 15 years at the helm of the Kentucky Wildcats coaching staff — famously steering them to the 2012 national championship. Currently, his former squad boasts a 3-2 conference standing, 14-4 overall, with Arkansas sitting at just 11-7 on the year.

During an episode of "The Field of 68: After Dark" hosted by Rob Dauster alongside analyst Jeff Goodman and broadcaster John Fanta on Saturday, Jan. 18, the discussion turned towards the current fact that out of the 16 major college basketball coaching changes made in the off-season, Calipari remains as the only one winless in his conference. They even deemed it as an elite-level stat.

Fans then expressed their distrust towards Calipari and in his ability to coach the Arkansas Razorbacks due to the poor string of results as of late in the YouTube comment section.

"John Calipari is the Doc Rivers of college basketball. In fact, he's worse. Tier list goes from best to worst: Doc, Hubert Davis, Calipari," one user said in comparison to Milwaukee Bucks coach Doc Rivers.

(image credit: youtube/thefieldof68:afterdark)

"Cal' brought so much talent to Arkansas and I really feel bad for the Arkansas fans. Kentucky knew he was still a good salesman (recruiter) but he couldn't coach, and he didn't care. If Cal' stays another year at Arkansas (which I doubt), it will be obvious that he's not the salesman he used to be either," another user expressed.

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"We may have taken an L at home against 'Bama, but as a Kentucky fan, I couldn't be happier with how this has played out. The Cats still have a shot to make a real run in March, while Arkansas will be sitting on the sidelines. BIG thanks to John Tyson for taking that snake oil salesman out of our hands," another shared.

(image credit: youtube/thefieldof68:afterdark)

There were also several who directly responded to the title of the video, which was taken from Goodman's statement in the episode where he stated:

"I just feel like the game has passed John Calipari and his staff by right now." (2:30)

Here are some who reacted to the journalist's choice of words.

"We, Kentucky fans, said that four years ago. And, guys like you scoffed at us," one user wrote.

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"Cal has recruited the same way for 15 years. It's not that they're good players, they are, but they're too young to be starting together in the SEC," a user posted.

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"Cal has always wanted to be a celebrity not a basketball coach. He wants the fame and notoriety, not the work. The prodigy kids can't buy you wins any longer," another commented.

(image credit: youtube/thefieldof68:afterdark)

For Calipari to finally eke out a conference win with his newfound squad, he may need to revamp his current gameplan to today's standards according to the sentiments of the podcast hosts.

Rob Dauster says John Calipari is only successful with the right amount of talent at his disposal

John Calipari with Kentucky products Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. - Source: Jerry Lai, Imagn

As the conversation turned towards criticisms regarding John Calipari's ability to successfuly coach teams with balanced talent, Rob Dauster echoed the same thoughts. He shared that Calipari is only racking in wins if the 65-year-old has a star-studded lineup.

"The skill that he had, what made him great at Kentucky, the 2012 team, he had Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, the top two picks. They got the fourth, fifth most shots in their starting line up, they won a championship. The 2015 team, he had Devin Booker coming off the bench, he basically had 10 pros," Dauster said. (4:38)

"He got everybody to buy in. It was amassing talent and getting that talent to buy in," he added.

Despite standouts fielded by Calipari this year such as Adou Thiero and Boogie Fland, he may need to scout for more players who could produce at high levels in the off-season since he is known to utilize them to their full extent. The Arkansas Razorbacks will try to return to the win column with their first SEC victory on Wednesday, Jan. 22, versus the Georgia Bulldogs.