Arkansas
How Kelvin Sampson and a chicken executive sold John Calipari on becoming Arkansas basketball coach
Introduced before a crowd of thousands of cheering fans at Bud Walton Arena on Wednesday night, new Arkansas basketball coach John Calipari quipped that he had “never gotten that kind of greeting in this building.”
The 65-year-old Hall of Famer recalled when he was ejected during a game inside the venue during the 2019-20 season that his Kentucky Wildcats won. Back then, the idea of Calipari one day leading another college basketball program – let alone an SEC rival – seemed unfathomable.
But it’s now reality, and Arkansas play-by-play announcer Chuck Barrett wasted little time hitting Calipari with the million dollar question.
“How did this happen?” Barrett asked as he shared a stage with Calipari for a question and answer session. “Walk us through this.”
“John Tyson,” Calipari responded, quick to credit the billionaire Arkansas booster he later referred to as “my good friend.” Both Calipari and Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek were adamant Wednesday that the former CEO of Tyson Foods played a vital role in landing Calipari to replace Eric Musselman, who left after five seasons to take the USC job.
According to Calipari, Tyson asked if Calipari would meet with Yurachek last week. Both happened to be in the Phoenix area for the Final Four. Calipari agreed, insinuating that he assumed Yurachek might want his opinion on candidates to replace Musselman.
“Whatever John Tyson would ask me to do, I’m doing it,” Calipari said.
The meeting lasted less than 90 minutes. Yurachek said Calipari “spent 15, 20 minutes bragging about how great of a job it was.” Yurachek eventually asked “why not you?”
“Why not me?” Calipari responded
“Yeah, why not you?” Yurachek shot back.
After talking with Yurachek, Calipari said he “went west” while mulling the possibility of leaving Kentucky for Arkansas. On his trip, Calipari said he spoke with a Catholic priest about the decision.
“Father, I’ve got to decide what I’m going to do here,” Calipari said. “One is Arkansas. The other one is Kentucky.”
The priest told him to go for an hour walk and have it in his mind that he was the Arkansas coach. Then, on the way back, Calipari should imagine that he was the Kentucky coach.
“You’ll see what moves your heart and what you want to do,” the priest told Calipari.
Calipari obliged and set out on a walk that rocked college basketball.
“I’ll be honest, when I thought about coming here and building this program and making it something special, it got me excited,” Calipari said.
Calipari said he planned to keep his talks with Arkansas under wraps until after Monday night’s national title game. But word broke Sunday that a deal was in the works. It was officially announced Wednesday as a five-year agreement worth $38 million before potential bonuses. The average salary in excess of $7 million falls short of what Calipari made at Kentucky but is roughly $3 million per year more than what the Razorbacks paid Musselman.
Yurachek made it clear the deal likely would have been impractical without Tyson and fellow booster Warren Stevens. The two “joined forces together to make certain we could offer the type of package that would lure coach Cal to Fayetteville,” Yurachek said.
In addition to the boosters, an unlikely figure also played a key role in getting Calipari to Arkansas: Kelvin Sampson.
Calipari said he called the Houston coach to inquire about working for Yurachek, who was Houston’s athletic director from 2015 to 2017.
“He almost jumped through the phone,” Calipari said. Soon, Calipari got a rundown of how Yurachek helped set the stage for Houston’s recent run of success.
“That got me to where I had to listen,” Calipari said. “I’ll say it again. Basketball coaches win games. Administrations win championships. You know why? Because they want to and it’s important to them.”
Players are also an important part of the championship equation. Arkansas’ 2024-25 roster is a blurry picture at the moment.
“I met with the team,” Calipari said. “There is no team.”
Coming off a first-round NCAA Tournament loss with a freshman-laden Kentucky team that fell against No. 14 seed Oakland, Calipari said “you can have freshmen, but they better be physically tough.” He also stressed the need for patience as the Arkansas roster comes together.
“It may take a little longer because there are kids that put their name in the NBA Draft that are going to go through some of the process,” Calipari said. “Which means, do you wait for that kid or do you go take somebody that’s not quite as good? You’re going to be juggling balls. That’s what we do now.”
Arkansas
Suburban sprawl has reached a dead end in Northwest Arkansas, planners say | Arkansas Democrat Gazette
(NWA Democrat-Gazette/Doug Thompson)
Arkansas
Courtney Deifel press conference: Arkansas softball coach, players recap 9-1 win over USF at NCAA Fayetteville Regional | Whole Hog Sports
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The No. 5 national seed Arkansas Razorbacks run-ruled Fordham, 8-0 in six innings on the strength of a shutout from sophomore Payton Burnham and three home runs during the opening game of the 2026 NCAA Fayetteville Regional at Bogle Park on Friday evening.
Arkansas got out to a 3-0 lead in the second inning courtesy of a two-run home run from Karlie Davison and an RBI single from Reagan Johnson. The Hogs then added a run in the third and fourth innings, respectively, courtesy of a solo home run from Tianna Bell and a sacrifice fly from Kailey Wyckoff, to push the advantage to five. In the sixth inning, Brinli Bain recorded an RBI single before Dakota Kennedy completed the run-rule with a two-run home run just inside the left field foul pole.
With the win, Arkansas improved to 43-11 overall and earned its 22nd run-rule victory of the season. The Hogs will await the conclusion of the Washington/USF game, which they will play the winner of tomorrow at 1 p.m. for a chance to move to Sunday’s portion of the bracket.
Burnham (13-3) was dominant in her 13th victory of the season, striking out six and allowing just three hits and no walks on 77 pitches. She retired a string of 14 consecutive batters from the second through sixth innings.
Davison (2-3, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R), Bell (2-4, 2 R, HR, RBI), Johnson (2-4, R, SB, RBI), Brinli Bain (2-3, RBI, BB), and Atalyia Rijo (2-3) each recorded multiple hits in the victory. It marked the Razorbacks’ 20th game this season with 10+ hits, while their 11 hits were the most since April 22 during a 7-2 win at Tulsa.
Olivia Simcoe took the loss for Fordham (27-27) after allowing four runs on seven hits and four walks while picking up a strikeout.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Sophomore Payton Burnham got the start for Arkansas, while Fordham went with right-handed junior Olivia Simcoe.
During the top of the first inning, Payton Burnham retired the Rams in order, highlighted by a strikeout to open the game. Simcoe followed with a 1-2-3 bottom of the second courtesy of two groundouts and a foulout.
Fordham second baseman Sadira Forcucci singled up the middle to lead off the top of the second inning and then advanced to second base on a single from Eva Koratsis. Ella McDowell snagged a line drive at third base for the first out of the inning before Burnham collected her second strikeout of the night and McDowell caught another hard-hit line drive at third for the final out of the frame.
Tianna Bell singled up the middle to lead off the bottom of the second inning before advancing to second on a wild pitch and taking third on a long flyout from Dakota Kennedy. Karlie Davison stepped to the plate and crushed a two-run home run over the wall in left field to give Arkansas an early 2-0 lead. Following Davison’s round-tripper, Atalyia Rijo singled, Kailey Wyckoff walked, and then was replaced at first base by Kennedy Miller, who hit into a fielder’s choice to move Rijo to third. Reagan Johnson then reached on an RBI infield single that scored Rijo and increased the Hogs’ lead to 3-0. Brinli Bain drew a walk to load the bases with two outs before the game was halted at 5:15 p.m. Following a 35-minute delay, play resumed at 5:50 p.m. Fordham and Simcoe escaped without further damage as they issued a flyout to left field to limit the deficit to three.
Burnham tossed a 1-2-3 frame capped with a punchout in the top of the third inning.
Tianna Bell crushed her team-leading 16th home run of the season with a solo shot to center field to lead off the bottom of the third inning, increasing the Arkansas lead to four. Arkansas then loaded the bases with one out by way of a Dakota Kennedy walk, a single by Atalyia Rijo, and a walk by Wyckoff, but Fordham would escape by way of a lineout and groundout.
In the top of the fourth inning, Burnham retired the side by way of a groundout, a strikeout, and a lineout. Bain was the lone Hog to reach base in the bottom of the fourth inning by way of a leadoff single into right field.
Burnham made it 12 consecutive batters retired with a 1-2-3 top of the fifth inning that featured a pair of strikeouts.
Davison singled up the middle to lead off the bottom of the fifth inning before later coming around to score on a sacrifice fly from Kailey Wyckoff along the foul line in shallow left field, giving the Hogs a 5-0 lead.
Fordham’s Mikayla Swan reached on a two-out single in the top of the sixth inning to snap Burnham’s streak of 14 consecutive batters retired.
Reagan Johnson led off the bottom of the sixth with an infield single before moving to scoring position with a stolen base. Johnson then scored on an RBI single from Brinli Bain before advancing to second courtesy of a fielding error on the play. Ramsey Walker entered in place of Bain following the RBI single and moved to third base by way of a groundout. Dakota Kennedy then ended the game by crushing a two-run home run just inside the left-field foul pole to make it the final, 8-0.
NOTABLES
- The Razorbacks registered their 22nd run-rule victory of the season, which ranks second in program history and one shy of the single-season program record set of 23 in 2025.
- Tianna Bell blasted her team-leading 16th home run of the season, setting a new single-season career high. She previously hit 15 last season while at Cal. Bell also improved her reached-base streak to a team-best nine games.
- Arkansas is now 25-28 all-time in NCAA Tournament play, including an 18-16 mark under head coach Courtney Deifel. The Razorbacks have now won six consecutive opening-round games in regional play dating back to 2021.
- Payton Burnham tossed her second consecutive complete-game shutout after throwing a three-hit, seven-inning shutout her last time out against Mississippi State (May 6).
- Arkansas recorded its 25th home win this season, which is tied for third-most in Bogle Park history (2009-present).
Up Next
The Razorbacks will await the decision of tonight’s matchup between Washington and South Florida to determine their opponent tomorrow.
For schedule updates and other news, go to ArkansasRazorbacks.com, or follow @RazorbackSB on X, Instagram and Facebook.
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