Kentucky basketball embarked on a new era in the 2024-25 season, moving from legendary coach John Calipari to Mark Pope, a former Wildcats player who was hired to replace Calipari after he was hired at Arkansas.
Calipari is now set to be the first Kentucky coach to face their old school at Rupp Arena after leaving for another job since Rick Pitino with Louisville in 2001.
The 65-year-old coach with six Final Four appearances in his career (including four at Kentucky) helped the Wildcats become one of the top NBA-producing programs in college basketball, with the Wildcats becoming a pipeline to the professional ranks. The Basketball Hall of Famer also won the 2012 NCAA Tournament national championship, finishing with a ridiculous 38-2 record on the season.
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Calipari didn’t end his Kentucky tenure on a high note, however, as the No. 3-seeded Wildcats were upset in the first round of the NCAA Tournament by Oakland, who won its first ever March Madness game in the matchup. The Wildcats didn’t fare much better in the two years prior, either, failing to make it past the first weekend in both the 2022 and 2023 NCAA tournaments (including a similarly demoralizing defeat to 15-seeded Saint Peter’s in 2022).
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Calipari takes on his former program on Saturday when the Razorbacks travel to Lexington to face Kentucky.
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“You get booed. I’ve done this so long,” Calipari told reporters of his impending return to Rupp Arena. “I tell you I got bazooka holes in my body. So, when you shoot arrows, it doesn’t even hit skin, it just goes through one of those bazooka holes.”
Here’s why Calipari left Kentucky for Arkansas after the 2023-24 season:
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Why did John Calipari leave Kentucky?
Calipari’s relationship with Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart reportedly deteriorated over the years, according to The Athletic.
Their relationship was reportedly “damaged beyond repair,” according to The Athletic, when Kentucky traveled to the Bahamas for an exhibition tour in 2022. It was there Calipari asked for a new practice facility with millions pledged by former Kentucky players in the NBA, but Barnhart wouldn’t budge.
Calipari then invited numerous reporters into his hotel room for a scrum, calling out Kentucky for not spending what he thought it should for its basketball program. Kentucky football coach Mark Stoops was angered by Calipari’s comments, and Barnhart reportedly sided with Stoops on the matter.
“I know for a fact Coach Cal didn’t feel supported, I don’t feel like he had the school’s backing,” former Wildcats forward and NBA star DeMarcus Cousins told The Athletic. “There’s a lot of things going on behind the scenes, adjusting to the modern times of college basketball now. It’s more so at the top, I just don’t feel like the support was there. This situation could have been handled a lot more gracefully, especially for as much as he’s done for them. Given the guys that have come through there, I would say these were the golden years of Kentucky basketball in the modern era.”
College basketball journalist Jeff Goodman also reported that Calipari was “miserable in Lexington,” while Matt Norlander of CBS also reporting that the Wildcats coach had expressed interest in Ohio State’s open position.
Kentucky reportedly didn’t counter when Calipari was offered by Arkansas, signaling the Wildcats were fine with letting him go. Calipari was also due a $34,968,749 buyout if he was fired prior to April 1, 2024, a figure Kentucky was glad to not have to pay when Arkansas hired its former coach.
Calipari’s initial talks with the Razorbacks came when John H. Tyson, the billionaire chairman of Tyson Foods, reached out to Calipari to ask for advice about filling Arkansas’ coaching vacancy after Eric Musselman left for USC.
The talks evolved into Calipari becoming Arkansas’ target, and he was hired shortly after the NCAA Tournament ended.
Upon leaving Kentucky, Calipari hadn’t reached the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament since 2019, or the Final Four since 2015, goals that are common for a blue-blood program of the Wildcats’ stature.
John Calipari contract
Calipari signed a five-year deal worth $38 million total with Arkansas, according to the contract obtained by USA TODAY Sports. His deal will be extended, and he will receive a raise if the Razorbacks make the NCAA Tournament, however.
The contract starts at a base salary of $7 million per season, but increases by $500,000 each year as a retention bonus. He also received a $1 million signing bonus on May 1, 2024, to raise his total compensation to $8 million in his first season.
If Calipari was fired without cause, he would be owed 75% of his total compensation on the remaining contract.
Calipari can also make myriad bonuses based on season finishes, capping with $500,000 bonus if Arkansas wins the national championship.
John Calipari coaching record
Here’s Calipari’s all time coaching record, along with his records at his three previous schools before Arkansas:
- Kentucky: 410-123
- Memphis: 252-69
- UMass: 193-71
- Career record: 867-271
