John Calipari says he'll only use a roster of 8 or 9 guys at Arkansas

[Morrischiano]

Calipari mulls limiting Ark. roster to '8 or 9 guys'

As he prepares for his first season at Arkansas, John Calipari said he won't stack his rosters with an abundance of talent, which was his tactic during his lengthy tenure at Kentucky.

www.espn.com

"You may think I'm crazy, but I told my staff, I only want to have eight or nine guys," Calipari told Robinson, who is now the executive director of the National Association of Basketball Coaches. "They're leaving anyway and why would I develop a kid for someone else? Why would I do that?"

Calipari said he's talked to other coaches who've discussed similar strategies.

According to NCAA rules, a team can have up to 13 scholarship players. While most teams rarely utilize every scholarship player on the roster, the idea of using fewer scholarships due to the turnover that the bulk of Division I teams have endured in recent years could signal a major shift within the sport.

Calipari has already added seven players to his first Arkansas roster, a group that includes former Kentucky commit Boogie Fland, a five-star prospect, and former Florida Atlantic star Johnell Davis.

But he said he wants to use the other spots on his roster for walk-ons and rely on those non-scholarship players and graduate assistants to help the team prepare for its opponents next season. He noted that women's college basketball teams often use non-staffers to help them in practice.

 

[S.W.A.I.N]

Shows how much he cares about the individual - god forbid you teach someone something they can utilize elsewhere.

 

[RUPete]

That’s the number they will pay and have in the budget. It makes sense. You’re not throwing money at the last guys on the bench in this world. Guess he’s just being honest.

 

[RUPete]

Shows how much he cares about the individual - god forbid you teach someone something they can utilize elsewhere.

I wish this wasn’t the case, but this is dated thinking. Hopefully new guidelines come to pass and we can get back to what you are saying.

 

[High Quality H2O]

That’s the number they will pay and have in the budget. It makes sense. You’re not throwing money at the last guys on the bench in this world. Guess he’s just being honest.

Makes a lot of sense.

If you concentrate your NIL resources to just the rotational players….you get better rotational players.

 

[Brisket and Bourbon]

2 serious injuries away from a throwaway season…watching JC lose is extra fun…as a pig even better

 

[NickRU714]

Makes sense in theory.
8 or 9 seems low though.
Maybe not. CBB is only 40 minute games.

Honestly, the only time end of bench players are in is blowouts. Might as well let it be walkons.

Next season, what’s the difference between Davis being on the court (5th guard) or a walk-on? It’s likely a blowout if either one is on the court.
Or last season when Austin Williams was on the court (after JWill returned).

 

[ancienthooper]

Smart. With or without NIL and portal. The way this board agonizes over the 11-13 roster spots is laughable.

 

[eedouble]

Shows how much he cares about the individual - god forbid you teach someone something they can utilize elsewhere.

I'm not saying I like it, but it's the nature of where the sport is going. If you ran a business and you hired someone on a temp basis, would you allocate a lot of time and resources to develop that guy knowing that he was leaving 6 months later? Or would you allocate extra time and resources to the guy that you knew would provide instant results for you in the short term? The way things are now, each roster spot is a temp position and coaches would be foolish to think otherwise. Especially when you are dealing with upper echelon talent.

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

This is a grand experiment that takes place in the NBA during the playoffs and is not thought of as a factor in the NBA regular season.

If you have 10 solid players, 11 through 13 aren't going to play......if you get injuries, your season is screwed anyway, players 11 through 13 are salvaging anything with your Top 3 players.

 

[Scarlet83]

That’s the number they will pay and have in the budget. It makes sense. You’re not throwing money at the last guys on the bench in this world. Guess he’s just being honest.

Who is throwing money (significant money) at the 12th and 13th guy for one season?

As with a lot of things, a more moderate approach can give a coach the best of both worlds. Instead of 13 or 8-9, maybe 11 is a better number.

 

[RUPete]

Who is throwing money (significant money) at the 12th and 13th guy for one season?

As with a lot of things, a more moderate approach can give a coach the best of both worlds. Instead of 13 or 8-9, maybe 11 is a better number.

Well, last guys on the bench are really 10-13 and in many cases 9-13.

 

[Kodiak Bear]

I think the issue with this type of thinking is that you leave no room to be wrong in your assessment of players out of high school. Some will be flops and some will over perform. You want to have extra players. Maybe they don’t all have to be 5 stars. Sure the guys on the bench will leave every year, but who cares?

 

[Scarlet83]

Well, last guys on the bench are really 10-13 and in many cases 9-13.

Not sure what your point is.

 

[scarletrat]

it's interesting....it makes sense, as other wrote, helps to distribute NIL to top 8-9 guys....and yes, could create a system where unless guys are can't misses or top 100-150 from HS, incoming freshmen generally go to mid-major or low-major to "prove themselves" before going to portal and to big programs...and with fewer 'ships, could be a counterbalance...it helps address the Jalen Millers of the world who wouldn't first land at RU, generally speaking, but at a low major school first.

some of the potential unintentional consequences of NIL...

I think programs can be successful with a mix of both, a few incoming freshmen, retaining key players, and transfers to address gaps...

 

[RUPete]

Not sure what your point is.

Re-read some of the posts earlier in the thread and you will see.

 

[Mr_Twister]

Does Calipari and his assistants have sons and nephews looking for walk-on spots?
The economist in Calipari made him make this decision.

 

[Southern Gentleman]

2 serious injuries away from a throwaway season…watching JC lose is extra fun…as a pig even better

Go Hogs Go!

 

[wheezer]

Smart. With or without NIL and portal. The way this board agonizes over the 11-13 roster spots is laughable.

The effort now is to get a starting center, not a 11-13 player, far different concern with most posts here

 

[FastMJ]

where does it say that all the scholarship players have to get any NIL? If you want to use all the scholarships just give the backup guys scholarships and no NIL simple

 

[TheHandOfChaos]

I think the issue with this type of thinking is that you leave no room to be wrong in your assessment of players out of high school. Some will be flops and some will over perform. You want to have extra players. Maybe they don’t all have to be 5 stars. Sure the guys on the bench will leave every year, but who cares?

Who said anything about recruiting players out of high school? I don't think Calipari will be doing much of that anymore.

 

[Caliknight]

Shows how much he cares about the individual - god forbid you teach someone something they can utilize elsewhere.

He’s right.

These are professionals. No coach had the attitude of developing kids for someone else.

Teaching days are over. It’s professionalized sport.

 

[wheezer]

where does it say that all the scholarship players have to get any NIL? If you want to use all the scholarships just give the backup guys scholarships and no NIL simple

On a high profile team, Kentucky, or even Arkansas, the 11-13 players probably had scholarship offers elsewhere, and in todays marketplace, would get some NIL offers

Maybe nothing major, but some, where the coach may have to respond

 

[Degaz-RU]

I would go with 9 high major players and — instead of walkons — 4 guys who really should be at low or mid majors who would jump at the chance to take a scholarship from a P5 school, but who wouldn’t command much in NIL.

 

[AdventureHasAName]

I think the issue with this type of thinking is that you leave no room to be wrong in your assessment of players out of high school. Some will be flops and some will over perform. You want to have extra players. Maybe they don’t all have to be 5 stars. Sure the guys on the bench will leave every year, but who cares?

If they aren't any good, you get rid of them and bring someone else in the next year. This is the Pros now; no time for loyalty.

 

[rucoe89]

Shows how much he cares about the individual - god forbid you teach someone something they can utilize elsewhere.

What if those others are there just to get a paycheck? If your boss knows you are going to be shopping for a bigger paycheck at the end of the year but the person next to you is showing they are committed to staying with what they currently have, pretty sure your boss will invest in the person committed to staying. Real world operates that way and these kids are about to find out that it all looked great on paper until it got real. Not necessarily a bad thing as sometimes you have to just grow up earlier than you may want.