Brad Calipari
Assistant Coach / Dir. of On-Court Player Development
Kentucky ‘19
3rd Year at Arkansas
Brad Calipari joined the Arkansas staff for the 2024-25 season and serves as assistant coach/director of on-court player development. He took on a more active role in recruiting responsibilities in the summer of 2026.
In each of his two seasons, Arkansas showed marked individual improvement throughout the year, especially over the final two months, to reach the NCAA Sweet 16 in both 2025 and 2026 as well as win the 2026 SEC Tournament. In February and March, Arkansas posted a 22-9 record in both seasons, including a 7-1 mark in March 2026. The Razorbacks had Adou Thiero get picked in the second round of the 2025 NBA Draft while Darius Acuff Jr., Meleek Thomas and Trevon Brazile are projected NBA picks in 2026.
alipari came to Fayetteville after two seasons working in player development at Vanderbilt and Long Island.
Calipari was the director of on-court player development at Vanderbilt for the 2023-24 campaign. He helped Erza Manjon and Tyrin Lawrence rank among the top scorers in the SEC while Ven-Allen Lubin was one of the most improved players in the league.
In 2022-23, Calipari was the director of player development for Long Island University in Brooklyn. At LIU, Calipari worked alongside head coach Rod Strickland – an NBA veteran who made the transition to collegiate coaching.
Prior to his time in Brooklyn, Calipari was a graduate assistant for the Kentucky men’s basketball program, earning his master’s certificate in sports kinesiology in 2022.
As a student-athlete, Calipari began his career at Kentucky, suiting up for the Wildcats for his first three seasons (2016-19) on teams that made two Elite 8’s and a Sweet 16. He played the final two seasons of his collegiate career at Detroit Mercy for the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons.
Calipari graduated from Kentucky in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in communications and media studies before earning a master’s degree in liberal arts from Detroit Mercy in 2021.
CALIPARI FILE
Born: Nov. 11, 1996, in Franklin Lakes, N.J.
Hometown: Franklin Lakes, N.J. (MacDuffie (Mass.) School)
Collegiate Playing Career: Kentucky (2016-19); Detroit Mercy (2019-21)
Alma Mater: Kentucky ‘19 (Communications and Media Studies)
COACHING CAREER
2021-22 Kentucky (Graduate Assistant)
2022–23 Long Island University (Director of Player Development)
2023–24 Vanderbilt (Director of On-Court Player Development)
2024–pres. Arkansas (Assistant Coach/Director of On-Court Player Development)
