John Calipari on the current state of college basketball: "It's not sustainable what we're doing"

Arkansas head coach and Basketball Hall of Famer John Calipari has long been an outspoken advocate against the current state of college basketball. While he has warmed up to NIL, he remains against players being able to enter the Transfer Portal and switch schools three, four, and sometimes even five different times.

The Transfer Portal has blossomed into one of the most important aspects of the college sports landscape. For college basketball, the Portal doesn’t even open until April 7. However, tons of players have already announced their intentions to seek greener pastures.

During Friday’s episode of ESPN’s Get Up, Calipari was asked if the sport of college basketball is in a healthy place. The National Championship-winning coach responded swiftly with a blunt ‘no.’

“No,” Calipari responded. “It’s not sustainable what we’re doing. But, here’s what I would say. We’re taking our eye off the ball. Let’s worry about 17 and 18-year-olds. They’re not being recruited anymore. I’m waiting for a 30-year-old who’s got two kids and is on his second wife. We’re worried about European players, who we don’t know if their birth certificate is right or not. We don’t know if they’re 18 or 35. We don’t know. They play on a professional team in Europe, but we’re told they’re not professional. Why are we doing these things to our young players who are 17 and 18-year-olds?”

John Calipari suggests guardrails to limit number of transfers

This could certainly be interpreted as a jab at how Illinois, which will be facing off against UConn in Saturday’s Final Four, has built its roster. Illinois head coach Brad Underwood has stocked his roster full of international talent, including David Mirković, Mihailo Petrović, Tomislav Ivišić, and Zvonimir Ivišić, whom Calipari even recruited and coached at Kentucky.

“Well, you may say ‘the game is better right now.’ What if it were your son who worked and trained and he’s 17 and 18 and he should be getting a college scholarship and he doesn’t,” Calipari continued. “What if it were your son? How would you feel about that? Would you feel it’s still okay because ‘the game is so good?’ We’ve gotten away from what we’re doing. They should be able to leave if a coach leaves. Yeah, the minute a coach leaves or gets fired, they should go wherever they want to go.

“They should have one time that they can go, because they made a mistake or the coach made a mistake. But, after that, they’ve got to sit out. Why? Because we’re trying to be transformational. Why are they leaving four different schools, which means you’re not going to get a college education or degree? Well, they’re leaving for money.

“Let’s put some guardrails, and before I leave the game, I just want to make sure that we don’t leave it this way. We have to leave it better for the next group of 17 and 18-year-olds, and the next group of coaches so it isn’t transactional.”

Calipari just completed his second season at Arkansas, where he led the Razorbacks to a 28-9 record and an SEC Championship win. The Razorbacks were bounced in the Sweet 16.