Arkansas' John Calipari poses with "one of his first great ones" from UMass, Lou Roe, after exhibition win against Kansas
As Arkansas Razorbacks' social media deployed a stinging update on their exhibition game against Kansas, John Calipari welcomed Lou Roe to Fayetteville. The former NBA professional is one of the initial players that Calipari developed for the league. Roe was picked first in the second round (30th overall) by the Detroit Pistons in the 1995 draft. He also played one season with the Golden State Warriors.
Lou Roe is one of the two players Calipari sent to the big league from his time at the University of Massachusetts. So, when his former student visited right after his first win as Arkansas' coach, Calipari shared the update with his fans on X.
"Look who dropped in for the weekend. One of my first great ones from my UMASS days, Lou Roe!," Calipari wrote.
Lou Roe played four seasons under John Calipari, displaying significant improvement in his game each year. He led UMass to four consecutive Atlantic 10 Conference titles and earned the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year award in his senior year.
Roe averaged 14.2 points and 8.0 rebounds while making 52.9% of his shots in 134 games for Calipari. He led the A-10 conference in points in his junior year and garnered a top-3 spot in points, rebounds, free throws, games played, and shooting efficiency multiple times.
John Calipari changed UMass' basketball as a rookie coach
Calipari joined UMass in 1988. The Minutemen's basketball program was going through a rough phase at the time, as it had a losing season every year for the last decade and was more than 25 years separated from its last NCAA tournament appearance.
It took Calipari two years to display promise, as his roster earned an NIT bid in 1990. Two years later, UMass won its first-ever Atlantic-10 tournament trophy. The program repeated the title run for the next four years.
Moreover, as Calipari’s acumen started surfacing in AP polls, he not only broke UMass’ NCAA tournament drought but led them to five consecutive NCAA Tournament bids.
As a rookie coach, John Calipari changed the trajectory of the Minutemen program under his leadership. He had joined the school after two assistant coach stints with Kansas and Pittsburgh.