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Message from NBA star fueled Hogs' coach John Calipari's will to dominate Gamecocks

Julius Randle's text to Arkansas Razorbacks coach helped feed surge from struggling big man
Jacob Davis|
Arkansas Razorbacks coach John Calipari during the first half against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Bud Walton Arena.
Arkansas Razorbacks coach John Calipari during the first half against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Bud Walton Arena. | Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

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Arkansas RazorbacksSouth Carolina Gamecocks

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — There was a sense of urgency apparent when the Arkansas Razorbacks took the floor of Bud Walton Arena Wednesday night against South Carolina.

Coach John Calipari's team came out with a convincing 108-74 victory, signaling the Auburn loss might've been a figment of everyone's imagination instead.

When Calipari went into the postgame media room to share thoughts about how the Razorbacks responded after being punched in the mouth early and often by the Tigers Saturday, he couldn't resist the opportunity to do a little patented name dropping.

“It's amazing, I’ve had more people tell me, ‘I love your team,'" Calipari said. "Today, Julius Randle texted me and said, ‘I really love your team.’ I said, ‘Did you watch the last game?’ He said, ‘It doesn’t matter.’ Different people are calling me about this group and saying you have a lot of pieces.”

South Carolina Gamecocks coach Lamont Paris and Arkansas Razorbacks coach John Calipari shake hands
South Carolina Gamecocks coach Lamont Paris and Arkansas Razorbacks coach John Calipari shake hands after the game at Bud Walton Arena. Arkansas won 108-74. | Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

Having a former player such as Randle, a former Calipari one-and-done at Kentucky, reach out to encourage his former coach shows just how loved the current Hogs coach truly is. While it's easy to let go of the rope in one game, Randle knew as well as Calipari that both the players and the coaches must flush poor performances and quickly look toward the next opponent.

That's exactly what happened Wednesday as freshmen guard duo Darius Acuff and Meleek Thomas led the charge while veterans showed up with a purpose. Some nights coaches can't find five guys to show up and play a full 40 minutes of effort, desire and winning basketball.

Calipari alluded to that in the postgame, and encouraged South Carolina coach Lamont Paris to essentially "burn the tape" like he did after the Auburn game.

“I even told Lamont [Paris] afterward, I said, ‘What you just did here, we did at Auburn,'" Calipari said. "It’s the same thing. You kind of let go of the rope. We did the same. But they’re a good team. I've watched the tape. They either won the game or had a chance to win every game they've played.

"We had been the same with the Top 10 opponents, and then we hit Auburn. So hopefully we learned our lesson. We don’t want to feel the way we felt after that [Auburn] game."

Arkansas brought in one of the more dominant post players in the SEC during the offseason in Nick Pringle, who transferred from South Carolina following a breakout season.

He's been relatively ineffective in the post compared to his two previous SEC stops, averaging just over five points and five rebounds per game with the Razorbacks.

Calipari showed a bit of concern for Pringle as he checked in on his big man to see where he was mentally ahead of facing his former team.

Arkansas Razorbacks forward Nick Pringle
Arkansas Razorbacks forward Nick Pringle (23) goes up for a dunk during the second half against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Bud Walton Arena. Arkansas won 108-74. | Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

Clearly, he was in a good place. With 15 points, seven rebounds and three assists against the Gamecocks, the Razorbacks second-year coach is hoping it opens up the floodgates of productivity for Pringle to become an intimidating post presence moving forward.

While everyone responded to Calipari's request to burn the tape from Auburn, it was Pringle who's performance that likely made the biggest impression moving forward.

"We had dinner at my house, and I grabbed [Pringle] and asked 'Are you okay?' 'Yeah I'm fine,'" Calipari said. "And he was fine. He made free throws, dunks, blocked balls, rebounded. He was really good, really good.

"[South Carolina players] couldn't go around Nick. If they tried to drive, he stopped them. Now, my job is to get his motor hot."

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Jacob Davis
JACOB DAVIS

Jacob Davis is a reporter for Arkansas Razorbacks on SI, with a decade of experience covering high school and transfer portal recruiting. He has previously worked at Rivals, Saturday Down South, SB Nation and hosted podcasts with Bleav Podcast Network where his show was a finalist for podcast of the year. Native of El Dorado, he currently resides in Central Arkansas with his wife and daughter.

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