Copyright Arkansas Online
MEMPHIS -- Waved on by University of Arkansas men's basketball Coach John Calipari, an endless line of past Memphis players streamed onto the court Monday night at FedExForum, the prelude to Arkansas' 99-75 exhibition win. Calipari, who was Memphis' coach in 2000-09, had just been introduced to a standing ovation. "Everywhere I've been, when I've left, they are mad," he said after. "They were mad at me at (Massachusetts). Then, they kind of look back and we had a pretty good run. My guys, we all came back -- well, maybe not. Maybe the Kentucky thing, they were happy. I don't know. "Again, the university doing what they did for those players and being kind to me, they don't need to be kind to me. They don't and they were." Calipari must've bro-hugged 40-odd former Tigers who played for him at Memphis. Those who couldn't make it filmed videos to occupy the scoreboard during pauses in play. In his 34th year as a head coach, Calipari sported shoes inked with all the names of his Memphis players. Some stopped by Sunday's practice. "That's just so much knowledge for them to give off to us," Arkansas freshman Meleek Thomas said Monday. "Very loving. Even though they played for Memphis, they spread that love back to Arkansas. It's not like, 'We're Memphis players.' They play for Cal. We play for Cal. Just very supportive and they let us know that they're in our corner, regardless if we know them or not." Monday's result won't count toward the 11-11 series record between Arkansas and Memphis. Calipari was asked if he would consider revitalizing a home-and-home series with the Tigers -- last seen in the 2001-03 seasons -- and joked 15 people already asked. He never got around to a direct answer -- saying the program has an available slot but would await the verdict of a 20-game SEC schedule. Regardless, Calipari said he has been fighting for a decade for mutually beneficial exhibitions like Monday's. The No. 14 Razorbacks managed to overcome a sizable deficit, trailing by 15 points with 7:59 left in the first half. The Tigers are one of nine Division I rosters to not return a single player from last season. For Arkansas, last weekend also provided a chance for Calipari to link his past successful Memphis teams to the present. Arkansas sophomore Billy Richmond III, a Memphis native whose father played for Calipari's Tigers, said the experience was "more than basketball." He said his dad's teams became tight families and tries to transfer that onto the next generation. "It is a big deal," Calipari said. "You should have seen them at dinner last night. I made my (Arkansas) team be in the same room so that they could see the interaction. We went through so much together (at Memphis). It doesn't go away. ... I told my guys before the game, 'If you care about one another and really care, that's what you'll be like 20 years from now.' " An exhibition game between the Vanderbilt and Memphis women were followed by the men's game at 8:20 p.m., comprising the second Hoops for St. Jude Tip Off Classic, which benefited the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis. Arkansas players wore white "We Won't Stop" warm-up shirts and visited with children at the hospital before Monday's game. "They said some of the kids won't live too long," Thomas said. "So things like that, you've really got to cherish. You've really got to just have a positive attitude and a high spirit walking in a building like that, just giving out positive energy and just be very welcoming. Because you don't know what anybody else could be going through on the other side." Calipari said some of the children were invited to the exhibition and he was on the verge of tears in a hospital setting because it made him think of his own kids. He thanked the University of Memphis and St. Jude for tying the experience together: a reunion for former players and a chance for current ones to give back to a community Calipari was a leader in for nine years. "The players that came back loved it," he said. "Even more now connected to this city and the university." Arkansas players were lectured about that history on the court at Sunday's practice. "I said in front of my team and (former players), 'Could these guys that I'm coaching now play for me if I coached the way I coached you?' " Calipari said. "They went, 'No way.' They said, 'For two months, you killed us and we became dogs. Then the rest of it was fun, because we just went after people.' But it's not their natural instincts and I'm trying." Matt Byrne is the Bob Holt Razorback Reporter, named in honor of the longtime reporter who covered University of Arkansas sports. This position is funded by the ADG Community Journalism Project.
