By Aidan Joly
So much for the national title game being the biggest story in college basketball, on the day of the game.
Late Sunday night, news broke of the biggest coaching move not just this year, but in many, many years: John Calipari will leave Kentucky after 15 years at the helm in Lexington to take the job at conference rival Arkansas.
There had definitely been whispers about Calipari’s future in Lexington after a string of early NCAA tournament losses and those whispers got even louder after Kentucky lost to 14-seed Oakland in the first round a few weeks ago. The Kentucky program has not been to the second weekend of the tournament since 2019 and has lost in the first round in two of the past three years. That came after a painful 9-16 campaign in 2020-21 after Kentucky had been in the preseason top 10.
Only one national title in 15 years and only four trips to the Final Four (none since 2015) had started to ding him with the fanbase as well.
12 days ago, athletic director Mitch Barnhart publicly confirmed that Calipari would return for the 2024-25 season, but a painfully awkward TV interview the next day made it clear that the relationship was souring. The days were clearly beginning to be numbered.
The idea that Calipari is leaving one of the top jobs in the country for what on the surface is a lower-level job shows how desperately he wanted to get out at Kentucky. According to CBS Sports, Calipari had significant interest in the Ohio State job before they took the interim tag off of Jake Diebler.
Then, the unexpected chain of events began. SMU surprisingly fired Rob Lanier after two good seasons and a NIT appearance this season. From there, SMU snapped up Andy Enfield from USC after a disappointing season in Los Angeles. Eric Musselman then left Arkansas to take the job at USC, setting up Arkansas AD Hunter Yurachek to make this shoot-for-the-moon run at Calipari.
Reportedly, the big force in this move was John Tyson, a billionaire Arkansas benefactor and the heir to the Tyson Foods empire, a longtime friend of Calipari’s. Calipari will have one of the largest NIL budgets in the country in Fayetteville.
In many ways, this is a win-win-win for all sides involved.
Arkansas gets a coach that is a winner and someone who could very well make the Razorbacks an annual contender for the national championship after Musselman brought the program back to national prominence. He got Arkansas to the Elite Eight twice, on top of another Sweet 16 appearance. The Razorbacks get an improvement at head coach, something that is rare when a coach leaves for another job – and at that, someone as good as Musselman.
For Kentucky, they get to move on from a guy who was clearly no longer the right coach for the program, and get to do it without paying any of his $33 million buyout. And they get a new coach for the first time since 2009, and with that, a chance to start fresh.
For Calipari, he is now free from one of the toughest jobs in the country, one that is probably the highest pressure job in the country. He also gets a fresh start at a new school, and he still has things to prove.
Where does Kentucky go from here?
Dan Hurley is the shoot-for-the-moon option, but it is tough to see him moving on from UConn, especially so if the Huskies win another national championship on Monday night.
Billy Donovan is another option and on the surface would make a ton of sense, but he has not coached in college basketball in nearly a decade and may not want to leave a cushy NBA job to head back to the college game.
Alabama coach Nate Oats makes a lot of sense, as does Baylor coach Scott Drew. Both recently re-did their contracts, and Oats has an eight-figure buyout. But if Kentucky wants him, that shouldn’t matter. Drew would make sense too, and he has a smaller buyout.
BYU coach Mark Pope would be a solid hire, as would Auburn coach Bruce Pearl.
The Kentucky job is indeed the highest pressure job in the country, but also the one with the highest upside. Eight national championships from five different coaches and going back-and-forth with Kansas for the winningest program of all-time. The expectations are unbelievably high, but there’s no ceiling to what can be accomplished there with the right coach.
Calipari was no longer the right coach for the program. That was clear. Now, after this stunning turn of events, the two sides are free from each other.
AJ Hoops 