A stunner!
Absolutely massive SEC basketball news came out after many of us went to bed on Sunday night — John Calipari is leaving Kentucky and heading to Arkansas. After a wild couple of hours of speculation, ESPN’s Pete Thamel hopped on board and said the deal was happening.
Sources: John Calipari is finalizing a five-year deal to become the next coach at Arkansas. The deal is expected to be completed in the next 24 hours.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) April 8, 2024
Arkansas was looking to replace Eric Musselman, who left for USC after a disastrous last season in Fayetteville. The Razorbacks seemingly swung and missed on targets like Chris Beard and Jerome Tang last week, now they pull off a stunner.
It’s no secret that things had gotten stale for Calipari in Lexington. Top recruiting class after top recruiting class just never paid off over the last several years, but Cal’s approach never seemed to change. Kentucky fans were ready for a change after last season, and they were certainly even more ready after the Wildcats were upset by 14-seed Oakland in this year’s NCAA Tournament. That followed an early exit out of the SEC Tournament, capping another disappointing postseason for such a storied program.
Back in 2022, Kentucky was taken out by 15-seed Saint Peter’s. The Wildcats missed the NCAA tournament in 2021. Over the last five seasons, Kentucky hadn’t made it past the round of 32.
Calipari had plenty of success in Lexington, too. He immediately went to the Elite Eight back in 2010, which was his first season with the program. It was one of seven Elite Eight appearances for Cal with Kentucky. During his run, the Wildcats made four Final Four appearances and two National Championship appearances, winning it all back in 2012.
However, with the changing landscape of college sports and the introduction of the transfer portal, Calipari never seemed to evolve. There seemed to be a very real chance that Kentucky would move on from Cal after this season, but that idea was put to bed last week.
And then Sunday night happened.
Arkansas comes swooping in and lands Calipari, shifting the entire landscape of the SEC. Longstanding ties to Arkansas billionaire John H. Tyson were reportedly a deciding factor in the decision for Calipari.
Calipari exits Kentucky with a 410-123 overall record.
Frankly, this seems like a win-win move for everyone involved. Kentucky, Arkansas and Calipari all needed fresh starts and each party gets one here. Now the obvious question becomes, where on earth does Kentucky go from here? It’s obviously a top three job in the country, and it’s going to generate massive interest. But it also comes with massive pressure and extreme expectations.
You’ve already seen names like Billy Donovan and Nate Oats floating around out there. I’m sure we’ll see plenty more emerge over the next 48 hours. Kentucky AD Mitch Barnhart has a wild week ahead of him. Personally, I can’t wait to watch this one play out.