John Calipari Agrees To Become Arkansas Head Coach
A bombshell in the world of College Basketball was dropped tonight, as news broke that Kentucky’s Head Coach John Calipari has agreed to a five-year deal to leave and become the coach of Arkansas. Calipari had an illustrious career for the Wildcats, finishing with a career record of 410-123 and winning the National Championship back in 2012. Pete Thamel first broke the news.
It has been a rough last three seasons for John Calipari and the Kentucky Wildcats, to their expectations at least, going 26-8, 22-12, and 23-10, and not getting past the Round of 32 in any of those three seasons. It’s worth noting that Calipari does not have a buyout option on his deal, and he does not have to pay the school anything upon his departure. Kentucky also does not have to pay the rest of his deal, as well.
It will be fascinating to see who Kentucky targets to replace Calipari. The first name that comes to mind is Jay Wright, former Villanova Head Coach. Potentially someone like Kelvin Sampson from Houston could look to jump ship into a bigger conference. Lamont Paris from South Carolina had a massive year, taking that team from 11-21 to 26-8 last season. Kentucky could go up and coming coach, or turn to a big-time veteran coach.
Eric Musselmen left Arkansas for USC this off-season, and he was making $4.2 million a year. John Calipari was making $8.5 million in Kentucky, and there is no telling what Arkansas is shelling out to bring Calipari to Fayetteville. This is a massive pivot in the world of College Basketball, as Arkansas was toward the bottom of the SEC. With Calipari being one of the better recruiters in the nation, you can expect some big things for the Razorbacks in the future.
