John Calipari makes Kentucky fans furious with 'lesson' he learned in Lexington

John Calipari rebuilt Kentucky into a college basketball power by embracing the one-and-done era, recruiting five-star recruits who previously would have gone straight to the NBA were it not for a new league rule requiring them to attend college for a year.

Cal landed top-tier players like Anthony Davis, John Wall and Demarcus Cousins, all of whom would go on to be lottery picks and NBA All-Stars. It was a system Calipari could sell, until it was ultimately his undoing.

The collegiate game has changed. As coaches embrace the transfer portal, which is now arguably just as if not more important than recruiting freshmen, the best teams are led by veterans, many of whom have been there and done that before as it pertains to NCAA Tournament experience.

John Calipari finally realizes what went wrong at Kentucky

Calipari figured this out later than most, which is why his freshman-laden Kentucky teams fizzled out the last two trips to the NCAA Tournament, highlighted by losses to Saint Peter's and Oakland.

"The lesson was you can't do this now with seven freshmen," Calipari said, per ESPN. "You just can't. You're going to hit a team that's 25 years old on average, one was 26, and that team is physically going to get you, and so now we have a couple transfers that are older, some kids that transferred from Kentucky that went through it, and they're a year older, and some freshmen."

At Arkansas, Calipari claims he'll look to employ a fresh approach, something Kentucky fans were clamoring for the last few years.

"We're not going to take six, seven freshmen now," Calipari said. "It'll be three or four. Hopefully retain a few, get a couple transfers, and that is the formula...Now that may not work. And then you'll say, 'Well, you said ... ' Well, I changed my mind. I didn't like how it looked."

It's that simple. He just changed his mind.

Calipari called his time at Kentucky "15 great years," though the final five left much to be desired. The Wildcats have since moved on in favor of Mark Pope, previously the head coach at BYU and a Kentucky basketball alum. Pope came to a similar realization as Calipari, but about a half-decade ahead of time, if not more.

Cal's transfer class at Arkansas includes several former Kentucky players, including former top recruit DJ Wagner. The Razorbacks are still trying to fill out their roster.