For the eighth year in a row, and much to the dismay of the legions of dedicated fans who follow his program, John Calipari’s team is not making the Final Four.
The Kentucky basketball coach, however, still found a way to become the main topic of conversation around college basketball’s marquee event. Or, perhaps more precisely, Former Kentucky basketball coach.
Calipari, who has led the Wildcats to four Final Fours and their eighth national championship since taking over the program in 2009, is finalize a five-year contract to become Arkansas’ new head coach, according to multiple reports Sunday evening.
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This is an important move that will accelerate a coaching carousel that seemed to be coming to an end.
Calipari is one of the biggest names in sports, a member of the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame with 855 career victories and six Final Fours with three different programs. His departure opens up arguably the most desirable head coaching position in college basketball at a school with immense resources, a long and storied history and an endless reservoir of passion for the sport.
Given these inherent benefits of a seemingly comfortable gig, the question must be asked: why would Calipari willingly leave all of this? Here’s what you need to know about Calipari’s impending departure and why it happened:
Why is John Calipari leaving Kentucky?
Calipari’s accomplishments during his 15 seasons in Lexington are impossible to ignore and just as difficult to downplay.
In that time, he transformed what had been a moribund program under his predecessor, Billy Gillispie, into the sport’s preeminent attraction, bringing a seemingly endless parade of five-star recruits who became first-round NBA draft picks via Rupp . Arena.
By his sophomore season, Kentucky was in the Final Four and the following year, behind National Player of the Year Anthony Davis, he helped the Wildcats win their first NCAA championship since 1998. He followed that up with two other Final Four appearances, in 2014 and 2015.
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The problem for Calipari, however, is that even though he continued to win at Kentucky, he never returned to those same heights, the ones the program and its fans have come to expect.
These shortcomings have grown in recent years. The Wildcats haven’t been back to the Final Four since 2015, when a star-studded team that entered the event 38-0 lost to Wisconsin in the national semifinals. Since a run to the Elite Eight in 2019, Kentucky has just one win in the NCAA Tournament.
In 2020, the tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The following year, Kentucky went 9-16, its worst winning percentage in a season since 1926-27. In 2022, as a 2 seed, she was stunned by 15 seed Saint Peter’s in the first round. After a 2023 second-round loss to Kansas State as a 6 seed, Calipari’s team was once again upset by a low seed, this time, Oakland, seeded 14, in the first round.
Immediately after the 80-76 loss to the Golden Grizzlies, speculation swirled that Calipari might not return to the Wildcats, with playoff results declining and frustration, even anger, among fans. CBS’ Matt Norlander, among others, said the night of the loss: “I think there’s a chance John Calipari coached his last game at Kentucky.” »
However, firing Calipari without cause would have cost Kentucky $34,968,749 as of April 1. With that huge number serving as a daunting hurdle, Barnhart confirmed on March 26 that Calipari would return for a 16th season after the two had “conversations about the direction of our men’s basketball program.”
Although they denied it during an interview last month with LEX 18 News in Lexington, Calipari and Barnhart reportedly have a strained relationship. College basketball reporter Jeff Goodman reported Sunday evening, as news of serious talks between Calipari and Arkansas intensified, that Calipari, citing a source close to the coach, had been “miserable in Lexington.” Additionally, Norlander reported that Calipari had privately expressed “significant” interest in the project. Ohio State Job Vacancy It ultimately came down to Jake Diebler, but that “the timing wasn’t right.”
With this continued discontent, Arkansas became a logical destination. The Razorbacks have a strong basketball history, with a national championship in 1994, and Calipari reportedly has a close relationship with Arkansas megadonor John Tyson (of the Tyson Foods family). The school also reportedly put significant resources behind him. According to Goodman, Calipari will have access to a NIL pool in $5 million surplus who will “rank among the best in college basketball.”
There is fairly recent precedent in Kentucky for a decision like Calipari’s. In 2007, Tubby Smith, nine years removed from a national championship, left the Wildcats to become head coach at Minnesota. Smith went 44-25 in his final two seasons in Lexington, which put added pressure on his job security.
John Calipari contract, buyout details
As reported by ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Calipari’s announced deal with Arkansas lasts five years. According to Goodman, it is worth approximately $7.5 million at 8 million dollars per year. As for what the Razorbacks owe, the terms of his contract specify that if Calipari leaves Kentucky for another position, he owes the program nothing.
John Calipari record
Calipari will finish his tenure at Kentucky with a record of 410-123. He is the second winningest coach in program history, behind Adolph Rupp.
During his college basketball coaching career, which also included stops at UMass (1988-96) and Memphis (2000-09), his teams went 855-263.
