John Calipari, Rick Pitino trade quips about similarities, differences ahead of Arkansas/St. John’s

Arkansas and St. John’s face off in the Round of 32 on Saturday, pitting future Hall of Fame coaches John Calipari and Rick Pitino against each other once again.

Before the 2 programs face off, both Calipari and Pitino were asked to give some similarities and differences to their coaching styles, personalities, teams and so on. Of course, anyone who religiously follows college basketball knows that Pitino and Calipari have an… interesting relationship. It’s obvious the pair have respect for each other – as you can tell from their following answers – but it’s hard to label the pair as friends, either.

When asked the question, Calipari said the following:

Pitino’s answer was especially interesting. He started by saying “I have great respect for him, but we’re not really close…. I don’t know a whole lot about him except he’s a terrific basketball coach.”

Of course, he had to throw a quip in there, too.

Pitino and Calipari are the only coaches to have taken 3 separate teams to the Final Four. Across their respective histories, Calipari and Pitino are 2-2 against the other in the NCAA Tournament, and 2 of those teams (1996 Kentucky under Pitino and 2012 Kentucky under Calipari) went on to win the national title.

There’s more history to write today when Arkansas takes on St. John’s at 2:40 p.m. ET on CBS.

Ethan Stone

Ethan Stone is a Tennessee graduate and loves all things college football and college basketball. Firm believer in fouling while up 3.