John Calipari and Jayden Quaintance.
I got on a Southwest flight Sunday afternoon in Louisville to meet my daughter and grandchildren for a national parks trip in Utah thinking Monday’s biggest stories would be the NCAA Tournament title game, solar eclipse and end of the Caitlin Clark era.
Was I ever wrong?
By the time my plane landed and I turned my phone back on it was blowing up with John Calipari to Arkansas rumors. By the time I got out of the airport, got a rental car and got to my hotel, my phone was beyond blowing up with the Calipari news.
My reaction — good for him and good for Kentucky.
Calipari has spent 15 years at Kentucky. He won a national title in 2012. He also went to the national title game in 2014 and got to the Final Four in 2011 and 2015 — the year UK was 38-0 before losing to Wisconsin.
Calipari will finish his tenure at Kentucky with a record of 410-123. He is the second-winningest coach in program history behind only Adolph Rupp.
His problem is that he did so much so soon that he raised the expectation level even higher at Kentucky and has not been able to meet that standard. Kentucky has not been to the Final Four in the last nine years. Since going to the Elite Eight in 2019, UK has just one NCAA Tournament win.
In 2020, the NCAA tourney was cancelled by COVID. In 2021, UK went 9-6 — its worst win percentage since 1926-27 —and did not make the NCAA. In 2022, No. 2 seed UK lost to 15 seed Saint Peter’s in the first round. In 2023, UK lost to 6 seed Kansas State in the second round. This year UK was a No. 3 seed and lost to No. 14 Oakland in the first round.
Calipari is a Naismith Memorial Hall of Famer with 855 career victories and six Final Fours with three different programs. Those are incredible numbers.
However, he needs a fresh start and so do Kentucky fans. Sure, many fans were critical of Calipari the last few years but when you make $9 million per year and proclaim you have teams “built for March” and then don’t deliver, fans will be upset. Calipari also often talked down to fans.
But Calipari was also a great fundraiser when natural disasters impacted Kentucky or other places. Calipari and his players helped raise needed money for many causes.
Last season UK was also one of the most exciting teams in the nation if not the most exciting on offense. The problem was Kentucky played porous defense.
It’s no secret Calipari and athletics director Mitch Barnhart are not close buddies. The BBN Tonight interview with the two of them was awkward and far from sincere.
But Calipari leaving for Arkansas was a better exit for UK than firing him and owing him $33 million.
Now Calipari will be even more rejuvenated to show he can make a Final Four again. He will basically have unlimited NIL money from big-time donors at Arkansas and he will take recruits
Jayden Quintance, Karter Knox, Billy Richmond, Boogie Fland and Somto Cyril with him to Arkansas. My guess is that Travis Perry of Lyon County will stay committed to Kentucky.
Early reports are that Calipari will make between $7.5 and $8 million annually on his new five-year contract. Maybe that’s not quite as much as he was making at UK but it is more than enough.
Kentucky will be starting over — but that would have been the case no matter when Calipari left. The good news is that with the right coach, a roster can be restocked a lot quicker today thanks to the transfer portal.
However, Barnhart better get this hire right — no Billy Gillispie — and that may not be as easy as some want it to be. Still, UK is 2-8 in its last 10 postseason games counting SEC Tournament play and that mark is why the love affair with Calipari soured at UK.
Seth Davis of CBS Sports and Paul Finebaum of ESPN are both on the Nate Oats to Kentucky bandwagon. Oats just took Alabama to the Final Four despite being walloped at UK in late February. He’s produced wins but being in the 24-hour a day spotlight at UK could be more than he would want no matter how much Barnhart offers.
“Calipari going to Arkansas is one of those seismic shifts that is good for all parties. He needs a fresh start and so does Kentucky. Kentucky needs to back up the Brinks truck for Nate Oats. This is a no brainer. He has an 8 figure buyout but he’s worth it and Kentucky has the money,” Davis posted on social media.
“Alabama is not Kentucky, and Kentucky is the gold standard. Alabama football and Kentucky basketball are essentially the same thing,” Finebaum said on ESPN.
Change is never easy but change always eventually happens. Hopefully this change is good for both Calipari and UK because it seemed obvious both needed this change.
31 Responses
He’ll take Quantance, Knox, Richmond, Fland and Cyril to Arkansas.
But, these are kids playing against GROWN A#$ MEN.
Nothing will change that next season wether they’re in Arkansas or Lexington.
I’m glad the puppy mill has shut down.
Now maybe we can get some real DOGS
I slept the best I have in 5 years last night a full 9 hours. Wow I feel refreshed. Change is good. You can’t be scared of change. I wish with every cell in my body they would go after mark few. The man has been too 25 straight NCAA tournaments. Calculating went to 13 NCAA tournaments in 15 years. He would have missed 3 tournaments in 15 years if 2020 had a postseason. If my calculations are correct that’s 1/5 years we miss the tournament. Mark Few has been to 9 straight sweet 16s and 4 elite 8s in the that same stretch. He’s been to 2 national championships in 5 years at Gonzaga. A small school in the west coast conference. I think if you give him Kentucky’s resources and the Kentucky name he will recruit even better and he’s already a great recruiter he has a eye for talent that will help the team win. I think he would be a major upgrade over calapari. Gonzaga had there worst team in 9 years this year and they still beat Kentucky at Rupp and killed them last year in spokane and Gonzaga they will be great again this coming year. Why wouldn’t you go after someone with a proven track record for the winning?? I would love to get Mark Few I love the way gonzaga plays basketball. I love how he mixes shooters with athletes with the right blend. He would take Kentucky to at least 2 or 3 championships in 5 years. He’s done it at Gonzaga. Why couldn’t he do it at Kentucky?
Its funny I don’t see all the calapari haters on here today. You got your wish. Today is better than my birthday. If they don’t make a home run hire fire Mitch barnhart.
I live in louisville. Did you enjoy all the trash on the streets lol
Nate Oats has a great recruiting class coming in and he’s better at the transfer portal than calapari we will be ok as long as Mitch don’t drop the ball anybody would love to be Kentucky’s coach. Money talks and bs walks.
Godspeed to Cal I’m a UK letterman I support
The school and whoever is the coach
It was way past time for Calipari to leave. He was too prideful and stubborn to change here and I don’t see that happening in Fayetteville either. Now when he hears those fans squealing, he will think it’s a compliment, LMFAO!!!
Incentives inspire the best production fr anyone.
Fire Barnie.
Hire a winner AD & coach at the same time. Just make it happen.
A contract with less than elite BASE pay PLUS INCENTIVES which make the coach the highest paid college coach in the nation by 50% more than the top salary. So he gets $15 Million with a National Title but he gets $5 Million with results similar to the fraud and he gets his pink slip with no “severance pay” – forget about buyouts,
UK needs a contract – not a fantasy gift package done by Barnie.
Fire Barnie.
No need to trash talk him.
He has failed more far too many times in the big items.
Hire a winner!!!
hooray ! it’s about time, so glad he is leavin, i hope they can get scott drew if not him why is no one mentioning mark few, i know he hasn’t won a title , but he kicks our butts every year. what kills me is i must be crazy but i thought we could actually beat them this past season, was way outcoached by mark few. he always does a great job with his team. i hope we don’t lose all the recruits that’s what i feel bad about.
I am reminded that we should all be careful what we wish for. It may end up in our laps. Cal attracted talent. Yeah they were kids but talented. For whomever the next coach is, I’m betting on Billy Donivan, a lot of stars has to line up to get done what Cal accomplished much less to exceed those on a consistent basis.
Billy doesn’t have a buyout that is extreme and he has NBA connections. Also, he dominated college basketball for a long time.
Everything is all about what have you done for us lately. In coach CALcified it’s been nothing!
Talent without a decent coach that gets them prepared for every game is useless.
2-8 in post season play the last 5 years would have gotten any other coach fired without waiting the 5 years. They would not have been secured by a life-time lottery ticket contract.
How can any AD not be fired after a lot of flawed hires & outrageous contracts!
Capiluto has failed as the top dog. He is in a position above his skill level, above his thinking capacity. Many people are promoted one step too high on the corporate ladder. They either need to acknowledge their inability to take on more responsibility or be removed by higher authority.
To remove a rotten egg is surely an improvement. The next step is to remove the source before it lays more of the same.
It’s just simple logic.
A giant sigh of relief swept through the great state of Kentucky with one breaking news headline!
The going get tough the calipari get going. Go get your ego stroked in Arkansas
Big shout out and thank you to jack gohlke for driving the final nails in.
Guys he’s gone time let it go and quit being bashing at Cal. He did more good things than bad. Its time to start thinking positive with our next coach whom that may will be . The thing is I’m afraid will pay a price for it
North Carolina and now UConn have 6 national titles. We didn’t get rid of the FRAUD anytime too soon! We are most likely at least 3 years out from being title competitive. Calipari did as much damage to Kentucky basketball as Obama did to the United States of America. Billy Donovan, Scott Drew, Nate Oats, Chris Beard, or even Rick Pitino can get us back on track for championships again.
Your a dumb a$$ orange man lover. Pitino can dirty up your kitchen table. Get ready for a coach you never heard of whiners.
Jimmy! Jimmy! I wondered when your cowardly ass would show up again. I TOLD YOU THAT THE FRAUD WOULD BE GONE IN APRIL! All of you Calipari azzkissers need to go to Fayetteville. You can squeal there all you want, everyone else will be squealing too! All you are going to do here is get bitchslapped. You don’t know anything about basketball and you are NOT a Kentucky fan…you are a Calipari azzkisser. Your place is in Arkansas with all of the other SQUEALING pigs! SQUEAL jIMMY JIMMY SQUEAL!!!
He didn’t get fired Bitch! Enjoy your new coach that has only been in Division III. Pitino wouldn’t be at your house anyway. Your ole lady is toooooo ugly.
He didn’t say he got fired, DUMBASS!!! Look up there again, and read slowwwwwwwly: he said he "told u he WOULD BE GONE IN APRIL"……he’s gone!!!
***retranslated for the reading-impaired***
That’s what I’m afraid of Jimmy.
If that does happen, Calipari is to blame. 79 don’t go back to the dark side with Jimmy Jimmy.
Barry I too wanted a fresh start, it’s that we may not get so lucky getting a top tier coach.
"OHHHHHHH CAAAAAALLLLL–SOOOOOOEEEEEEY!!!
"ARKANSAS RAZORBACKS"!!!!!
Piiiiiiiiig sueyy
Kentucky is a pressure cooker that many would not take on. It’s largely due to the constant fan oversight that takes place. We are not in the era of UCLA’s late 60’s early 70’s teams of John Wooden. It’s a different beast in today’s game that evolved quickly with Covid years, NIL, transfer portal and G League decisions by high schoolers. Cal was good to Kentucky, he raised the bar in ways the entire state should be proud of. Think about the floods in Eastern Kentucky, the tornadoes in Western Kentucky, or Haiti and every other call for help he and his teams impacted in a positive way. Raising millions to help while burnishing that charitable soul on so many of his players. I read somewhere that UK basketball has created and distributed almost a billion dollars through its former basketball alumni and charities created by those that came before. Many who have spent time on campus over the years and getting degrees. He did that! Nobody else was before Cal, Eli, and Mitch figured out a how and why. That my friends is a victory of a much greater magnitude.
There is no denying that John Calipari was a good man. As a basketball coach, he was average at best and the last 5 years he sucked azz! He can continue to raise money for Haiti from Fayetteville. We have the job of finding a coach who can rebuild the devastation he has caused to our basketball program.
Like kneeling for the Anthem?
This snake oil salesman wore out his welcome years ago.