Vicky Graff Photo
John Calipari will soon be referred to as the former head coach of Kentucky Basketball.
According to multiple reports, Calipari is nearing a five-year deal to become the next head coach at Arkansas. The contract is expected to be completed in the next day or two.
Reports claim several large boosters at Arkansas played a major role in luring Calipari to become their head coach, which makes sense considering the relationship Calipari has with John Tyson. The Tyson family – widely known for Tyson Chicken – is the largest booster at Arkansas. The program is also reportedly in position to allow Calipari a $5 million NIL budget.
Considering how fast this developed, there’s not been any news of what decisions Kentucky’s current commits will make. It’s entirely possible that several follow Calipari to Arkansas, while others may enter the transfer or even stay at Kentucky. Big Blue Nation will most certainly have their eye on Kentucky Mr. Basketball Travis Perry and how this will impact his decision moving forward.
Another thing to keep an eye on is the stay/go decisions of Kentucky’s current players. Adou Thiero has already entered the transfer portal and Aaron Bradshaw is rumored to be next. Justin Edwards has entered the NBA Draft and it would be somewhat of a shock if Rob Dillingham and/or Reed Sheppard didn’t join him.
In addition to the many moving pieces regarding players, Kentucky will now begin their search for their next head coach. Those speculated to be candidates are Alabama’s Nate Oats, Baylor’s Scott Drew and Illinois’ Brad Underwood but names such as Brad Stevens (NBA), Bruce Pearl (Auburn), Danny Hurley (UConn) and Jay Wright (analyst) have also been floated around.
While there’s a ton to speculate on over what should be a few weeks, one thing is certain. Kentucky fans have been given the breath of fresh air they asked for.
Calipari struggled mightily the last three seasons and his relationship with the Big Blue Nation became worse each March. It’s a fresh start (without the buyout) for the Wildcats and one that even athletic director Mitch Barnhart probably needed. The breakup is also a fresh start for a Hall of Fame coach with a chip on his shoulder. He’ll definitely bring better recruits to Fayetteville and the Razorbacks should be a much better (regular season) team almost immediately.
It was quite the run for Calipari and Kentucky. In their 15 seasons together, the Wildcats went 410-122 with a national title (2012) and four Final Four appearances (2011, 2012, 2014, 2015). There were so many high moments during those 15 years and while the end was quite murky, that shouldn’t cloud our memory of the entire journey.
For the majority of his time in Lexington, Calipari had Kentucky right in the mix when it came to winning SEC Tournaments and competing for national championships. Now just happens to be the time for what was once a very good thing to come to an end and for Kentucky to embark on a new chapter for their program.
The only real pressure now is on Barnhart to make a quality hire. Who will that person be? We’ll soon find out.
31 Responses
YES! YESS!! YESSS!!!
Don’t let Barnhart make the hire. Fire his ass and start off with a clean slate!
OMG….PTL..BBN has been very deserving of getting a shot of good news and this is as good as it gets….let the replacement speculation BEGIN!
"DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES??? YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS"
SQUEAL LIKE A PIG, CAL LOVERS!!!!! And u can go on and make your squealing official too just like your fav coach did–go follow him to PIGSOOEYVILLE and u all can all squeal together–get out of BBN, we dont want u, because your not TRUE BLUE, youre a CAL-LOVER, so go on and be a HOG now!!! MY GOD, THE KING IS DEAD!!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
and for those of u who are gonna come back and say "oh just u wait till we aren’t winning any games", I stick by what I have said all season: if we r going 9-16 and losing first Rd tournament games, let’s at least do it with somebody new!!! It couldn’t have gotten any worse than the last 5 yrs, and all u morons were so blind by your CAL -LOVE, it made u too stupid to realize that. And I don’t give a damn if he makes a Final 4 with ARK, he can go anywhere he wants, because he’s OUT OF THE STATE!!!! MY GOD, do u know how refreshing it’s gonna be not to have to hear about the GD NBA DRAFT ANYMORE??? AND ONE AND DONE, and tweaks, and I love my team, and these kids aren’t robots or machines!!!! Will be interesting to see how fast ARK fans get tired of that, but they r probly so moronic that they will fall for it hook, line, and sinker. KY is too good for all that–and now we can get back to being KY again. And being FOCUSED ON KY again! As I have said many times, CAL’s best teams and winningest teams had previous season veterans who returned and helped freshmen get to Final 4s and win a natl title–so truthfully ONE AND DONE has nvr been the answer on its own. And yes I will always be grateful for the run that CAL took us on the first 6 yrs, and the next few after that weren’t great, but they were very solid. It was everything that came after that from 2019 and the lifetime contract on to our present day. CAL was nvr the same man or coach from that time on, and esp not after COVID. the last 5 yrs have been the darkest era in the history of KY bball, bar none. And I am so thankful that the program gets a chance at a fresh start. But Marnhart always terrifies me. He has blown it before, but he has also gotten it right too. Seems it’s always either home runs or complete whiffs. The women’s program got a home run–come on Mitch, hit a home run for the men too and let’s get this program back again. I would love to see Nate Oats here, and I know that’s not gonna be a popular choice among ppl, but I’m sorry, I would. And I would be ok with Scott Drew as well. And I know that the game has changed and that guys can still go to the NBA after one year if they want, but it’s like I said, im so sick of that being the only real interest or focus of the KY coach. That’s not the reason u coach college bball. So let’s get a coach who wants to coach for KY, and at KY–and let’s be patient, and give whoever it is time to do what they need to do!! We can’t start bashing him right out of the gate if things aren’t going well. Gonna take some time. And next year will def be a rebuild from the start. But remember, WE ARE KY!!! AND KY IS KING—NOT KAL!!!!! today is a day to celebrate and rejoice–a day to celebrate a new chapter and new breath of life for the KY BBALL program! A day to celebrate what being KY is all about! KY will always endure. It has for over 120 years. And it will continue to. So let’s celebrate, rejoice, and let’s thank GOD for miracles!!!
AND THANK GOD HE IS GONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well said James. Hopefully Jimmy Jimmy is packing his UHaul too.
HAHAHAHA!!! Thanks for the shout-out Barry–i appreciate you–u were one of the first ppl I thought of tonight when I saw the news–I have been reading your stuff all year, and have really enjoyed it, and enjoyed this site. It’s one of the only things that has kept me going thru a long period of toxicity that just so badly needed to end, but I honestly would have never dreamed that CAL would go somewhere else and make it easy for us. I’m still in shock –its like a Twilight Zone night–feels too good to be true!! I read in one of the articles tonight that a source from UK that is very close to CAL said that he has "been miserable in Lexington". I mean, how could he not have been after these last 5 yrs? This was the year he finally saw his own walls closing in on him. I have been saying for a long time that he hates this state and hates the fan base and looks down on us, and that’s what I have been so sick of and disgusted by–why do any of our fans want a coach who feels that way about us? That’s where he is the true "snake oil salesman"–he is still able to blind and brainwash so many people. And some of our fans have become politically correct, virtue signaling sheep as well, so they took their cues on all that from the "O GREAT ONE, the self-proclaimed KING OF KY"—-think about that: a guy who is deep down that miserable, enough to be looking for a way out, publicly telling the fans "I am KING here"—–where does that rate on the scale of disease-level mental illness and narcissim? I’m telling u, in time, ARK is going to regret that hire, and I have a feeling that some of their fans may not be real thrilled with it. Altho I’m sure he will be able to find some more sheep there to brainwash too. The thing is tho, he won’t have any pressure at ARK–not the kind he had here. Just remember, ARK fans, that your players are not robots and they’re not machines, so easy on your expectations–but u might have an NBA draft night that makes for the greatest night in the history of your program!!! HAHAHAHAHA yea, let another fan base experience what we have all these years. And u know what, other than LOU and TN, it couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch than PIGSOOEY. I will be rooting against ARK every game they play–if they were to play LOU, I might even root for Little Brother for one game! And yes, our good friend, Jimmy!! U know, I thought about him too, and it’s a shame he has such a cool name–but I have a feeling ol Jimmy is sitting next to his box of Kleenex right now–hes in a world of pain, as he lost his favorite Coach, the Coach for A Lifetime, and his favorite girl lost a second straight shot at a national championship……whew! CAL-LOVERS, it’s all over, baby—04/08/2024–the day KY BBALL was released from hostage captivity and let out of its cage!!! It’s a new holiday in the state–a day to get out and celebrate!!! UK BBALL IS FREE!!!!
Am hearing that Jimmy, Jimmy may be on suicide watch…have been checking with the local hospitals and and clinics and no registrations yet.
Now, the search for a REAL coach. I don’t see Hurley leaving UConn…win or lose tomorrow. I don’t see Wright getting back into coaching. I really don’t think Drew or Oats are the answer either. Mark Few isn’t leaving Spokane. Tom Izzo is staying put too.
I would talk to Rick Pitino first. Make an offer contingent on it being a 3 year deal and bringing his son Richard to be the coach in waiting along with adding Payne to the staff. Billy Donovan would be my second choice. Chris Beard would be option 3. Jerome Tang or Sean Miller would be next on the list. If all of the above say no, then you are left with someone like Mark Pope or even Tom Crean. John Becker of Vermont would be a solid coach, not sure how he would fare in recruiting though. If Pop says No, then Richard Pitino could be on the list, especially if everyone else has said No. If it comes to this, Bruce Pearl or Kelvin Sampson is worth a phone call. If all of the above say No, Scott Padgett would be a guy to consider…he would take it in a minute. Make it a 3 year deal and give him a shot.
BP….you were sounding so lucid and then Tom Crean??? where did that come from. He would be at the bottom of my list.
Mike, Crean was toward the bottom of my list. Hopefully we won’t have to go there, but we have an idiot leading the search for our next coach. He is liable to give the job to Ernest of Ernest Scared Stupid.
PIGGGG SUUUUEEEEIEE!
Thank you Arkansas for taking out our trash. We couldn’t have done it without you!
Danny Hurley gets first phone call
Swing for the fences
I actually think Barney played chess and won. Buying Calipari out would have let Cal off the hook. .
Dan Hurley , Nate Oats.. first 2 calls. Whether interested or not you call them.
1. HIRE Rick Pitino
– OR –
Hire a Search Committee:
• Pat Riley
• Dan Issel
• Jeff Sheppard
• Scott Padgett
• Travis Ford
to land an AD & a real coach
of course, fire the AD
You people are way too much…talk about big blue nation you all haven’t been relevant well since you won it w Cal n before him Tubby…and you all ran Tubby away for Cal who was going to be your savior n you all went crazy w/for Cal…now 👀…you all deserve everything you get but you have to understand you all aren’t what you were in the 70’s so let’s leave that behind!
UK haters are sweating bullets now and it’s killing them because they know we are going to be relevant again with an actual COACH–the people who dog KY fans for wanting CAL gone are the same ones who dogged us for wanting Tubby gone–they disguised themselves as virtue-signalers who told us we were all crazy for believing we could do better with Tubby gone and CAL gone all because they knew both had lost the ability after 10 yrs to win consistently for KY anymore. So u all wanted more than anything for Tubby and CAL to stay and retire here so we could continue to stay rock-bottom—-well, guess what, MAS? We are KY, and we don’t stay rock-bottom, even with the handful of times we have hit rock-bottom, we don’t stay there–we always come back, we always recover, we always reload–we have had one legendary coach after another for 100 yrs, and each time one leaves, we reload with another one, and we will once again!!! WE ARE KY—-KY IS KING, NOT KAL—so, sorry about your luck, MAS!!!!! Sorry that ur so bored u have to come on another team’s message site–but that’s probably because whoever your team is doesn’t have one.
I’ll take Rick Pitino any day!!
I am also fine with Pitino…but not the Richard.
The X & O thing is obvious – the recruiting gives me pause. Tubby had the X & O thing down and look what happened to him after Ricks boys left.
We’ll see.
Pitino in my opinion is further down the line in choices
Didn’t mean return Rick.
What wonderful news to start the day and week.
I just heard Matt Jones say that this fraud has been talking to others since February, and was ready to accept the Ohio State job but wouldn’t because they wanted a new coach prior to this tournament, and the fraud believed he could get a deep run out of this defenseless team.
His EGO does not fit inside the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and
GOOD RIDDANCE.
It’s a beautiful day in the COMMONWEALTH–a beautiful day for a COACH–would you be OURS? WOULD you be OURS?
Would you be OURS, would you be OURS, would you be our COACH?
Won’t u please, won’t u please……please won’t you be…… our COACH?
Professor, thank you for being one of the REAL Kentucky fans. You were the first to recognize the fraud as being a FRAUD. Now he is gone…kinda reminds me of when Dorothy threw water on the Wicked Witch! If we can get rid of the Flying Monkey in the AD office, we might have a shot at getting Kentucky basketball back to being Kentucky basketball.
Woohoo!!!
Remember folks, at the end of the day, it’s just a game.
Ahh, Ol’ James. The TLDR guy.
Kentucky is officially now a football school at this point in time. Some of us old heads have known that for a long time. Some of you crazed basketball fans will be ready to fire the next coach if he don’t win a NC within his first three years in the bluegrass. Who would take the job right now anyway, unless UK gives the new man a gold mine like the "flag kneeler" had? Yeah, bring back Pitino, maybe he can bring in some dancing girls to help with recruiting. I am not a Calipari fan at all, and I’m glad he is history at UK, but he may just get the last laugh if all this Arkansas news is indeed fact. On On UK…… Football baby!!!
Hey Pup, how have you been? We may not be a football school much longer now that Texas and Oklahoma are in the conference. That means one less Popcorn State team on our schedule and one more non cupcake SEC team to play. Getting bowl eligible now won’t be easy, much less winning our division or an SEC title.