Earlier this week, the college basketball world received some shocking news when it was reported that Kentucky basketball head coach John Calipari, who led the team to the 2012 NCAA tournament championship and has coached several future NBA stars during his tenure, would be leaving the program to sign a contract to coach their SEC rival, Arkansas basketball. Although it has not been confirmed yet that Calipari will sign with Arkansas, he did at least confirm that he will be departing Kentucky basketball with a video he posted on X, the social media platform formerly referred to as Twitter, on Tuesday.
John Calipari helped guide several future NBA superstars during his tenure with Kentucky basketball, including Anthony Davis, John Wall, Devin Booker, and many others. One of those stars was none other than former Sacramento Kings All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins, who recently took to his very own “Bully Ball Podcast with Rachel And Boogie” to break down an interesting coaching comparison he has for Calipari, albeit in football.
“I put Cal and Deion Sanders in the same category,” said Cousins, per ALL THE SMOKE on YouTube. “You know Deion has the prime effect and we've seen what it's done for, not just the program, but the entire city of Colorado, well the entire state of Colorado, in the city that they're in Boulder. We've seen what it's done, it's the same thing with Calipari. Arkansas will now be the hot spot, Arkansas will now have the number one recruiting classes coming in every single year, Arkansas will be full of celebrities, Arkansas will have the most talent coming in and out every single year. The machine will continue to go, it’s just in a new place. I think when it comes to you know UK we're going to have to go through our rebuilding process. I think there isn’t a right answer as to who will fill that spot.”
A historic run with Kentucky
The “Prime Effect” of course refers to Deion Sanders' ability to bring national attention wherever he goes, as exhibited this past season during his first year as the head coach of Colorado football. Although it might not be quite the same, John Calipari was indeed a brand in and of himself, continuing to bring in top end recruits year after year to the Kentucky basketball program despite not having won a national championship in well over a decade.
The Kentucky community has already banded together to express its appreciation for what he was able to accomplish during his time in Lexington.
“We're appreciative of John Calipari leading our program for the last 15 years, adding to the legacy of championship success at Kentucky,” said Kentucky AD Mitch Barnhart in a statement, per Cameron Salerno of CBS Sports. “We're grateful to John for his many contributions to the University, and our state, both on and off the court. We are working diligently to hire a proven, highly dedicated coach who embraces the importance of this program to our fans and the state of Kentucky.”
As previously mentioned, John Calipari is now expected to join Arkansas basketball, per CBS Sports.
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