"Arkansas will end the trend": College hoops fans react as Razorbacks' socials flex remarkable John Calipari stat

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander made John Calipari a proud man on Wednesday after the Oklahoma City Thunder guard won the 2025 NBA Most Valuable Player award. The Arkansas Razorbacks shared Calipari's statement about his former player on X (formerly Twitter) account, including an interesting piece of trivia about the legendary coach.

Calipari congratulated Gilgeous-Alexander for his award, writing that the OKC star earned the MVP honor through his work, competitive spirit and championship demeanor and for being a great teammate.

The Razorbacks noted in their message that Calipari has now produced two NBA MVP guards at his two previous coaching stops, with Gilgeous-Alexander joining Derrick Rose.

Rose played under Calipari at Memphis in the 2007-08 season before joining the NBA. He won the MVP award while with the Chicago Bulls in 2011.

Gilgeous-Alexander played under Coach Cal at Kentucky in the 2017-18 season before declaring for the NBA draft. He played six seasons with the Thunder before capturing the MVP award this year.

College hoops fans reacted to the Razorbacks' post highlighting John Calipari's remarkable stat.

"Arkansas will end the trend for sure," one wrote.

"Bad look flexing a Memphis grad and uk grad lol," another chimed in.

"Have y’all tried posting about actual Arkansas players in the NBA? Oh wait," one remarked.

Here are some more fan reactions:

"Cal had nothing to do with making players better. They were going pro with or without him. Great recruiter, but one of the worst in game coaches I have ever seen," one replied.

"Cal had as much to do with SGA becoming an MVP as I had to do with Neil Armstrong walking on the moon," another shared.

"This smells of desperation to be relevant," one posted.

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How Derrick Rose and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander fared under John Calipari in their college basketball careers

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (left) while playing for the Kentucky Wildcats

Derrick Rose joined John Calipari at Memphis ahead of the 2007-08 NCAA season and immediately made the Tigers championship contenders. Rose played 40 games for the Tigers in his freshman year, averaging 14.9 points, 4.7 dimes, 4.5 boards and 1.2 steals.

Rose and Calipari fell short in their bid to win the national championship, though, losing 75-68 to the Kansas Jayhawks in the 2008 NCAA title game. Rose recorded 18 points, eight assists and six rebounds in the overtime thriller.

John Calipari joined Kentucky in 2009 and turned the school into a top destination for high school stars. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was one of those prized recruits, joining the team ahead of the 2017-18 season.

He averaged 14.4 points, 5.1 dimes and 4.1 boards during his freshman year, helping Kentucky reach the Sweet 16 of the 2018 NCAA Tournament, where the Wildcats lost to Kansas State.