John Calipari using message, mindset to help Arkansas in March Madness
John Calipari is one of the greatest college basketball coaches of this generation. At Kentucky alone, he went to four Final Fours and won a championship.
Now the head coach at Arkansas, Calipari is trying to do the same thing with the 10th-seeded Razorbacks in the 2025 NCAA Tournament. So far, so good, as they upset No. 7-seed Kansas, 79-72, in the first round.
Now it’s onto the Round of 32, where the Razorbacks face a massive matchup with another legendary coach, Rick Pitino, and No. 2-seed St. John’s. Calipari, though, isn’t fretting about the enormity of the moment.
Of course, he’s been there before, but he’s also used some mindset tricks to instill confidence into himself and his Arkansas team for this March Madness run.
“Every one of us, including me, had doubts. We all had to convince ourselves, ‘We’re going to do this.’ I had a card I read every morning and every night before I went to bed, and it was, ‘I’ve been blessed throughout my life.’ Forget basketball. I have been blessed,” Calipari told the media after the win over Kansas.
“I’m going to have a great attitude. I’m going to enjoy this journey and grow as a coach from it. I am going to make sure I keep an eye on my players. Let’s write our own story. In the end, it said, ‘Have faith.’ I read it in the morning, and I read it when I walked my dog, which I do twice a day … Before I go to bed. I have it with me here to keep me in that frame of mind. If I want them in that frame of mind, I have to be in that frame of mind.”
In a one-and-done situation like March Madness, sometimes, it’s not the best team that wins it all but the team that is hottest, healthiest and playing with the most confidence.
Arkansas is certainly feeling good after beating Kansas. Let’s see if it can keep the good vibes going against Pitino and St. John’s.
