Breaking: Arkansas men’s basketball coach John Calipari gives roster, staff updates on….

FAYETTEVILLE — New Arkansas men’s basketball coach John Calipari has been busy building a roster and staff while also looking into scheduling for the upcoming season.

He gave some updates on the “Ways to Win” podcast with former Oregon State coach Craig Robinson.

“It is invigorating for me,” he said. “I’ve got a bounce in my walk. I know it’s a challenge. There’s adversity going to hit. … I’m here to help another 20 families, I’m here to help in the state and make people feel good, create hope.

“If I do the right thing, these kids will come together like my other teams and we’ll compete for national titles.”

So far, Calipari has the commitments of seven players — transfers Zvonimir Ivisic (Kentucky), Jonas Aidoo (Tennessee), Johnell Davis (Florida Atlantic) and Adou Thiero (Kentucky), and freshmen Karter Knox, Johnuel ‘Boogie’ Fland and Billy Richmond — for the upcoming season. He also has three staff members signed and announced: Kenny Payne, Chin Coleman and Chuck Martin.

The University of Arkansas staff directory also indicates several unannounced off-court staff members are following Calipari from Kentucky — Kevin Butty, James “Bruiser” Flint, Kevin Gallagher and Chris Woolard. Those members and their official positions have not been announced.

Calipari said Tyler Ulis, the former Wildcats point guard who has served as a student assistant at Kentucky for the previous two seasons, was joining him in Fayetteville.

The past two episodes of Robinson’s podcast include updates from Calipari on the roster and schedule. Here’s what he had to say on those topics.

Roster

Calipari told Robinson, “You may think I’m crazy.”

The Naismith Hall of Famer then said he told his staff that he really only wants “eight or nine guys.” NCAA rules allow for men’s basketball rosters to include up to 13 scholarship players. Robinson responded by saying he doesn’t think Calipari is crazy.

“In this day and age,” Robinson said, “you can’t keep enough guys happy.”

“Yeah, they’re leaving anyway,” Calipari responded. “And why would I develop a kid for someone else?”

Calipari went into detail on why he felt that way. He said he coached six players while he was at Massachusetts. Injuries and other occurences could bring a theoretical Razorbacks roster with eight or nine players down to a similar-sized rotation.

He also spoke of his hopes for having graduate assistants who have either played professionally in Europe or recently finished their collegiate careers so they can participate in practices. Calipari pointed to women’s teams using managers as practice players and said he may want a similar setup.

“Maybe we do it that way,” he said. “We have some walk-ons, we have some GAs, we have eight or nine guys and that’s it. And there is a 10th guy, he knows he’s the 10th guy.”

That doesn’t mean Arkansas’ roster will definitely have that number of players, but that it’s at least being considered.

Calipari said name, image and likeness and the NCAA transfer portal has changed how they are approaching roster building. He pointed to last season’s Kentucky team and its youth and how that presented challenges throughout the season.

He said he’s looking to build a team that blends youth with experience, as evidenced by the players who have already committed. Arkansas is also reportedly hosting Kentucky transfer DJ Wagner on a visit this weekend.

Schedule

Calipari didn’t go into detail on where a schedule for next season stands, but he gave a glimpse into what he wants.

“I want to have a schedule together that promotes this program nationally,” he said. “I want some neutral-site games.”

Calipari said he wants to put together a four-team multi-team event on campus and maybe a neutral site, but conceded that it may take a year to get that put together. Then there’s the fact that home games — guarantee games against mid- and low-major competition or perhaps home-and-home deals with high-major programs — are needed.

Memphis coach Penny Hardaway recently said he felt that he and Calipari could bring the Arkansas-Memphis home-and-home series back, but there hasn’t been any public comment from Calipari or the Razorbacks. Calipari ended the Arkansas-Memphis series two decades ago when he was the Tigers’ head coach.

Arkansas has two games finalized on the 2024-25 schedule. The Razorbacks will be joined by Purdue, Notre Dame and BYU at the Rady Children’s Invitational in San Diego on Nov. 28-29. A schedule of games in San Diego has not been announced.