The news of John Calipari leaving the Kentucky Wildcats after several years of coaching the SEC powerhouse for a head-coaching gig for Arkansas basketball shook the ground of college hoops when it broke out just a day before the 2024 NCAA Tournament championship game between the UConn Huskies and the Purdue Boilermakers.
Not a few were annoyed by the timing of the news, as it stole some thunder from the big title game involving two No. 1 seeds. Even Huskies head coach Dan Hurley openly expressed after UConn defeated the Boilermakers in Glendale his dislike of the way the news of Calipari's Arkansas hiring was leaked.
For what it's worth, Calipari shares the same thought, as he opens up about the issue during a recent appearance on Hogs Plus.
“We talked Friday. There was some stuff on Saturday and Sunday back and forth. We didn't talk contract for more than 15 minutes total maybe less 10 minutes, the new Arkansas basketball head coach said.
“But I refuse to do anything on Sunday or Monday because of the National Championship game. That is those players, those coaches, those schools… They deserved it and then when it leaked out… But you notice neither one of us said one word,” Calipari added.
In any case, what's done is done and the whole world now knows that Calipari is with the Razorbacks, who are hoping that he will turn around the program after Arkansas missed the boat to the March Madness in 2024. Before that, the Razorbacks appeared in three consecutive NCAA Tournaments, including two appearances in the Elite Eight round under Eric Musselman.
John Calipari to start a new chapter with Arkansas basketball
Calipari's deal with the Razorbacks is said to be for five years and worth $7 million per season. It's less money than what he was earning during his days at Kentucky, but perhaps a new challenge in a different environment was a major factor that led to Calipari electing to leave Lexington for Fayetteville.
“By all accounts, John Calipari is one of the premier coaches in college basketball,” Hunter Yurachek, Arkansas' athletic director said (h/t Jeff Borzello of ESPN).
“A national championship coach, a four-time national coach of the year and one of the nation's top recruiters, Coach Cal has consistently demonstrated his ability to attract outstanding talent and build championship teams within the Southeastern Conference and position his programs among the best in the nation.”
Calipari joins the Razorbacks on the heels of an embarrassing first-round exit from the 2024 March Madness by the Wildcats. In what turned out to be his final game coaching Kentucky, the Wildcats got stunned in the opening round of the Big Dance as a No. 3 seed by the No. 14 Oakland Golden Grizzlies, who were powered by the hot shooting of Jack Gohlke. It was also the second time in three years that Calipari and the Wildcats struck out of the first round despite a high seed. In 2022, Kentucky crashed out of the NCAA Tournament as a No. 2 seed after losing to No. 15 St. Peter's Peacocks.
During his long stint as Kentucky's head coach that started in the 2009-10 season, Calipari racked up a record of 410-123. He is also the winningest active head coach in men's college basketball with an 855-263, including his 214-68 and 189-70 records with the Memphis Tigers and the Massachusetts Minutemen, respectively.
Follow Us
Subscribe