John Calipari embraced the one-and-done era like few college basketball coaches, becoming one of the best annually at bringing in talented freshmen and routinely getting them to Final Fours before shipping them off to the NBA.

The formula served him well during his 15-year run at Kentucky that ended after last season, as NIL money and the transfer portal skewed rosters older and created more parity.

But Cal is up to his old tricks in his first season at Arkansas.

“I’m kind of back to the roots of being the underdog,” Calipari said before the Razorbacks’ NCAA Tournament first-round win over Kansas last week.

And now, he has the 10th-seeded Razorbacks back in the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 following their win over second-seeded St. John’s and Calipari’s longtime rival Rick Pitino. The Razorbacks face West Region No. 3 seed Texas Tech on Thursday in the regional semifinals.

Once a staunch competitor of Calipari’s for the best high school talent, Pitino’s philosophies toward building championship teams have shifted during his latest coaching stop.

“We’re not recruiting any high school basketball players, not this year,” Pitino said recently when asked how he planned to keep St. John’s relevant after the school captured its first Big East tournament title since 2000.

But Pitino — and others for that matter — may reconsider after watching Arkansas freshmen Karter Knox, Boogie Fland and Billy Richmond III combine for 37 points and 19 rebounds in its upset over the Red Storm.

For Calipari it is confirmation that he can still follow the blueprint that produced six Final Four appearances and a 2012 NCAA title with Kentucky.

“I’m not changing how I do things,” Calipari said.

Pitino, who along with Calipari are the only two men’s coaches to take three different programs to the Final Four, said his decree to rely exclusively on transfers even extends to the highest-rated high school seniors in the country as he tries to replace three seniors who were instrumental in St. John’s run this season.

“I probably wouldn’t take him because I don’t think you can win and win big with high school kids,” Pitino said. “I really don’t believe it.”

Calipari does acknowledge some tweaks to his formula do have to be made.

“I’m not going to take seven or eight freshmen, which I have done,” Calipari said.