BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — John Calipari began his time at the podium during Tuesday's SEC Tipoff event by describing his new job at Arkansas basketball as "an adventure." One that he and his wife, Ellen, were excited to explore.

What he wasn't interested in discussing was previous forays. Specifically, those in Lexington, Kentucky.

"I've talked about all that stuff," Calipari said, referring to the end of his 15-year tenure at Kentucky. "You can look it up and see what I've said. ... I want to have fun with this. I know the challenges. I've been in this league. I know how hard it is."

While he didn't want to spend many words Tuesday discussing the Wildcats, Calipari's former program still isn't far from his mind.

Take tailoring the Razorbacks to his liking after replacing former coach Eric Musselman.

It begins and ends, Calipari said, with the program's culture.

"Before you can teach how we're going to play, you've got to teach them to play," he said. "And I've always said, 'A coach can stop a play. He cannot stop a player that can play.'

"So we're trying to teach them all, 'Here's what you have to have — these skills — to play the way we play: dribble, drive, space the court, positionless. Here are actions that we're going to run to open the court, to (get a) touch in the lane. Here's the opportunities for 3s and all those things.'"

Kentucky's 2023-24 squad also shaped how Calipari has structured Arkansas practices so far.

The Wildcats were a high-flying offensive attack last season, leading the nation (and setting a single-season school record) for 3-point percentage at 40.9. UK also averaged 89 points per game — the best figure in Calipari's 15 seasons at the helm. Yet for all Kentucky's offensive excellence, its defense routinely underperformed.

It culminated in the worst defensive squad of the Calipari era (in terms of points per game).

UK gave up 79.7 points per outing, the fourth-worst showing in the program's rich record book.

"My mindset — toughness, swarming, guarding your man plus one? We've done all that probably more so than I normally do," Calipari said of the new crop of Razorbacks.

That defensive-minded focus bled into Calipari's roster construction.

"They're more physical. They're older," he said. "What I found out when you try to have seven, eight freshmen and you're going against an older team of 24-year-olds, 23-year-olds? That's a big difference, and especially in big games where they are more mature to play through than with young guys."

Coaching colleagues in SEC expect John Calipari to build a winner 'right away' at Arkansas

Fans are impatient by nature. So the question for Calipari is clear: How quickly can he build a winner at Arkansas, as he's done everywhere he's been as a college coach (he has a winning percentage of 73 or better at three schools: UMass, Memphis and UK).

Yet Calipari isn't interested in setting a timeline for himself in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

"Because right now we're undefeated, and (fans) a little up in here (thinking we'll go unbeaten), and I'm like, 'Dudes, calm down,'" he said. "I try to tell them, 'I don't have a magic wand. I'm not a magician, it's not what I do.' It normally takes a couple years for me to get the culture right.

"Now, will it be less? Maybe. It may be more. But the culture has to be right. What you expect, what is unacceptable. Will they do more than expected? Do they understand we're here to help each of you, but we can't do it for you? … You're not promised anything. You're going to play every day against really good players who are as good as you and have the same aspirations."

Not every player is willing to acknowledge that, though.

"(They say), 'Let me go somewhere where I can just go play and he'll promise me and they'll do this. I'm going to be the only player,'" Calipari said. "Or do you want to go fight and take what you want? Those are the guys that come here. The others don't, and that's fine. Because at the end of the day, this is who fights. … This thing here?

"This is a man's decision to play in this league."

And his coaching counterparts in the league don't believe it'll take him long to build a winner — no matter how much Calipari may try to tamp down expectations.

"Cal is one of the best coaches in the history of college basketball, and Arkansas is a program that's got some pride," said Nate Oats, fresh off a Final Four appearance at Alabama, the first in the program's history. "I can't speak for him as to why he maybe moved, but sometimes if you want a fresh start — shoot, he's going to get talent. He's one of the best recruiters ever to coach in college basketball, and he's got a lot of talent there right away."

One of the few who actually knew of Calipari's move to Arkansas ahead of time was Rick Barnes. One of Calipari's closest friends in the profession, their bond dates back to the 1970s, when they met at a University of Pittsburgh basketball camp.

"He'll do great. Just like wherever he's gone, he's built a winner," Barnes said. "He's one of the great coaches of all time, and he will make it even tougher than it's ever been to play at Arkansas. I'm happy for him because I think he's happy, and what he did at Kentucky was really unbelievable if you look back on it in his time there."

The man who replaced him said you'll never hear him "say a negative word" about Calipari.

"Because there's not a lot to say," first-year UK coach Mark Pope said. "He's a Hall of Fame coach. As a diehard Kentucky fan and alumnus and former player, I am grateful for everything — all the incredible things that Cal accomplished at the University of Kentucky.

"And he's also been a good friend. He's been a terrific mentor, and he's always been generous to (my wife) Lee Anne and I as we've gone through our coaching journey. So we wish him the best in everything that he does, and I will forever be grateful for everything that he did at Kentucky."

Pope added he'll root for Calipari "every day like crazy." With one caveat.

"Except for Feb. 1," said Pope, alluding to the lone regular-season meeting between Kentucky and Arkansas, which will be at Rupp Arena.

Missouri's Dennis Gates took the most philosophical tack on Calipari's intraleague transition. Gates, entering his third season with the Tigers, said he views everything in life — inside and outside basketball — as "journeys" and "seasons." Calipari's journey at Kentucky was over. Now, he's in a new season at Arkansas.

"He made a decision, and I'm sure he didn't make that decision on his own. I'm sure he consulted with his family, with his wife, because as coaches we're absent from our home and we have that support system," Gates said. "The one thing I look at is, 'What season is he at in his life?' And what else there was out there? ... I think he will be successful, no different than he's been successful every step of the way."

From Gates' vantage point, Calipari seems as energized as ever.

"He needed a change in his eyes. ... He's still going to compete at the high level," Gates said. "He's still going to galvanize the crowd and make great memories.

"That's what this conference is about, creating great memories together and against each other."

Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky basketball: Former coach John Calipari talks Arkansas team