Why did John Calipari left Kentucky? Explains the former coach’s decision to join Arkansas
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Why did John Calipari left Kentucky? Explains the former coach’s decision to join Arkansas

Kentucky Basket started a new era during the season 2024-25 and moved from The legendary coach John Calipari To Mark Pope, a former Wildcats player who was hired to replace Calipari after he was hired at Arkansas.

Calipari will now be the first Kentucky coach to meet his old school at Rupp Arena after leaving a new job since Rick Pitino with Louisville in 2001.

The 65-year-old coach with six last four performances in his career (including four at Kentucky) helped Wildcats become one of the best NBA producing programs in College Basket, where Wildcats became a pipeline for the professional rankings. Basketball Hall of Famer also won the 2012 NCAA Tournament National Championship and ended with a ridiculous 38-2 record in the season.

Required reading: John Calipari’s legacy in Lexington: Former British Basketball Coach for Rupp Arena Return

However, Calipari did not stop his Kentucky service on a high note, as the No. 3-seeded wildcats were upset in the first round of the NCAA tournament of Oakland, which won their first Madness game ever in Matchupen. Wildcats did not go much better either during the two years before, and failed to make it past the first weekend in both 2022 and 2023 NCAA tournaments (including a similar demoralizing defeat to 15-seeded Saint Peters 2022).

Calipari takes on his previous program on Saturday when Razorbacks travels to Lexington to meet Kentucky.

“You get booed. I’ve done it for so long,” Calipari told reporters of his imminent return to Rupp Arena. “I say I have bazooho holes in my body. So when you shoot arrows it doesn’t even hit the skin, it just goes through one of these bazooh holes.”

Here’s why Calipari left Kentucky to Arkansas after the 2023-24 season:

Required reading: Why does John Calipari leave Kentucky? Wildcat’s basketball coach is reportedly on the way to Arkansas

Why did John Calipari left Kentucky?

Calipari’s relationship with Kentucky Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart was reportedly deteriorated over the years, according to Athletic.

Their relationship was reportedly “damaged beyond repair”, according to Athletic, when Kentucky traveled to the Bahamas for an exhibition trip in 2022. This was where Calipari asked for a new trainee facility with millions promised by former Kentucky players in the NBA, but Barnhart would not disappoint.

Calipari then invited several reporters into his hotel room for a scrum and called Kentucky not to spend what he thought it should be for his basketball program. Kentucky Football coach Mark Stoops was unlucky by Calipari’s comments, and Barnhart was reportedly pages with Stoops on the issue.

“I know that for a fact coach Cal did not feel support, I do not feel he had the school’s support,” previously told Wildcats forward and the NBA star Demarcus cousins ​​to The Athletic. “There are many things that happen behind the scenes and adapt to the modern time for college basketball now. It’s more so at the top, I just don’t feel that the support was there. This situation could have been handled much more gracefully, especially as much as he has done for them. Given the guys who have come through, I would say that it was the golden years with Kentucky Basket in modern times. “

College basketball journalist Jeff Goodman also reported that Calipari was “miserable in Lexington”, while Matt Norlander from CBS also reported that the Wildcats coach had expressed interest in Ohio State open position.

Kentucky reportedly did not counteract when Calipari was offered by Arkansas, which signaled Wildcats was good to release him. Calipari was also due to a $ 34,968,749 buyout if he was dismissed before April 1, 2024, was a figure Kentucky happy not to have to pay when Arkansas hired his former coach.

Calipari’s first conversation with Razorbacks came when John H. Tyson, the billionaire’s chairman of Tyson Foods, was enough for Calipari to ask for advice to fill Arkansas coaching vacancy after Eric Musselman left to USC.

The talks developed into Calipari becoming Arkansa’s goals, and he was hired shortly after the NCAA tournament ended.

After leaving Kentucky, Calipari had not reached the second weekend in the NCAA tournament since 2019, or the last four since 2015, goals that are common for a blue blood program for Wildcats status.

John Calipari contract

Calipari signed a five -year agreement worth $ 38 million in total with Arkansas, according to the contract obtained by USA Today Sports. His business will be extended, and he will have an increase if Razorbacks makes the NCAA tournament.

The contract starts at a base salary of $ 7 million per season, but increases by $ 500,000 each year as a detention bonus. He also received a $ 1 million on May 1 2024 signing bonus to increase its total compensation to $ 8 million during his first season.

If Calipari was dismissed without cause, he would owe 75% of his total compensation on the remaining contract.

Calipari can also make countless bonuses based on seasonal finish, with $ 500,000 bonus if Arkansas wins the national championship.

John Calipari Coaching Record

Here is Caliparis constantly coaching records, along with his records at his three former schools before Arkansas:

  • Kentucky: 410-123

  • Memphis: 252-69

  • UMASS: 193-71

  • Career record: 867-271

This article originally appeared on the Louisville Courier Journal: Why John Calipari left Kentucky: Explain Former Coaches’ decision