It was nice to get a little notice from the Arkansas Razorbacks this weekend.
New coach John Calipari, fresh from leading the Kentucky Wildcats, takes over the reins at Arkansas this year. He took his team on a little dog-and-pony show, stopping off in Hot Springs on Saturday and then on to the Pine Bluff Convention Center on Sunday.
There was a good crowd, as you might imagine, including elected officials and those paying extra for the privilege of getting up close with the coach and players. There were also some former Razorback players who showed up, lending some historic success stories to the event.
“You want to make sure you’re tying everybody into this,” Calipari said. “Wherever I was, we always would have former players. We would always bring back the coaches. I want Coach Richardson at my practices.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Nolan Richardson took the Hogs to the pinnacle of college basketball, winning the national championship against Duke in 1994. It’s something that Calipari, who is familiar with successful college basketball seasons over the years, would like to duplicate while at Fayetteville.
“We all know something special can happen, because it’s happened, and they did it,” Calipari said. “So why don’t we do it? Shows you we can do it.”
The two-city feel-good campaign also apparently went in both directions. One of the players, DJ Wagner, who transferred from Kentucky to Arkansas, said the road trip was fun.
“It just felt good to be able to … have that support in Hot Springs and just be able to come here and have that same support,” Wagner said. “So it feels great … we appreciate y’all.”
Arkansas will play two in-state opponents this season – UA-Little Rock, which is coached by another former Razorback star, Darrell Walker, and the University of Central Arkansas. Calipari said he’s all for playing in-state schools and said a game with the Golden Lions could happen.
Yes, that would be nice. Sunday’s event was a big hello from the Razorbacks to a city where the Hogs used to occasionally play. We’ll look forward to the day when they schedule a trip to the Bluff and play a real game.