"With talent comes egos": Analyst defends John Calipari and Rick Pitino against criticism tied to elite rosters

Arkansas coach John Calipari and St John's coach Rick Pitino are among the few in college basketball who have also coached in the NBA. Together, they are two of the most experienced coaches in the country, having spent over 80 combined years roaming the sidelines and managing countless talented players.

Apart from winning national titles, Calipari and Pitino have coached a multitude of players who have gone on to star in the NBA.

In the aftermath of this year's NBA draft, analysts Mark Zanetto and Casey Matthews hopped on the "Big East Energy Weekly" podcast to discuss the expectations that come with highly talented rosters.

Obviously, the ultimate goal for every program is to win a national championship, but some fans view anything less than a championship as a failure, especially when a team is loaded with future NBA players.

"I think sometimes we get hung up on the fact that a team has so many draft picks and NBA players, and we wonder how they don't win a national championship," Matthews said (Timestamp: 4:41). "But the thing is, you’ve got to be able to play together — and that’s the one challenge with talent: it often comes with egos.

"You've got to manage that. To me, that's why I don't think people like (John Calipari) and (Rick Pitino) are overrated. When you're recruiting that level of player every year, you're managing insane egos. And not only are you managing their egos, there are so many other people involved: parents, agents, AAU coaches. You're having to manage their egos too, and it's a lot."

Matthews further mentioned that the insane amount of money that coaches are getting paid is directly tied to the fact that they have to deal with all of this.

Rick Pitino and John Calipari reignite rivalry after nearly ten long years

Rick Pitino and John Calipari have faced each other many times over the years. Their first matchup dates back to 1981 when Pitino was coaching Kentucky and Calipari was coaching UMass.

The two Hall of Fame coaches found themselves in the opposite dugout once again last season as St. John's faced Arkansas in the second round of March Madness.

It was their first meeting in almost a decade, and, as expected, the game was a thriller, with the Razorbacks prevailing 75-66.