John Calipari Reportedly Leaving Kentucky for Arkansas HC Job Stuns MCBB Fans
Jack MurrayApril 8, 2024
Joe Sargent/Getty Images
The college basketball world got quite the shock Sunday night.
Pete Thamel of ESPN reported that Kentucky coach John Calipari had come to an agreement on a five-year deal to become the head coach at Arkansas.
Pete Thamel @PeteThamelSources: John Calipari is finalizing a five-year deal to become the next coach at Arkansas. The deal is expected to be completed in the next 24 hours.
This comes after Calipari served as the Wildcats head coach for 15 seasons. He compiled an overall record of 410-123 with the program and led it to a national championship in 2011-12.
His tenure in Lexington ends with a first-round loss to 14-seed Oakland.
Fans took to social media to express shock at the decision and hype up the Razorbacks’ chances at making a step forward in the SEC.
College Football Report @CFBRepThis is insane
DraftKings @DraftKingsIT’S HAPPENING pic.twitter.com/7smqCywPzk
Matt Jones @KySportsRadioThis is legitimately wild. Calipari choosing to leave Kentucky to coach an in-conference schoolā¦and have to come to Rupp blows my mind
And to have Barnhart publicly back him amongst a lot of criticism and then to leaveā¦that would be a crazy development
Tristan Pharis @TristanUdaJohn Calipari didn’t leave Kentucky to go to:
Cleveland Cavaliers
Los Angeles Lakers
UCLA Bruins
He left for the Arkansas Razorbacks…
JC Hoops @JacksonCollierArkansas is a national brand in basketball. Has been for a while.
Musselman revitalized it.
Cal will elevate it further.
Truly insane. John Calipari will be the head coach at Arkansas.
Nicole Auerbach @NicoleAuerbachWell, Calipari to Arkansas sure gives us plenty to talk about. Just wow.
Mark Titus @clubtrillionCalipari fighting to convince UK to keep him around just to leave for a conference rival a few weeks later is incredible, can’t believe this is actually going to happen https://t.co/gA4KuFtgwI
jon greenberg @jon_greenbergI can’t believe Calipari tried to one-up the Curb finale. Larry David should take the Kentucky job out of spite.
Ian Rapoport @RapSheetWait. John Calipari and Arkansas. Fascinating. https://t.co/u3QrkXzsnu
Matt Jones @KySportsRadioPut everything else aside (and there is a lot)
For Mitch Barnhart to back Calipari, take up him, do that TV interview and lock into bringing him back with supportā¦and then have him leave for Arkansas
If I were Mitch, I would be pretty upset
He takes over an Arkansas team that went 16-17 in 2023-24. However, the program had reached the NCAA tournament in the three seasons prior, including two trips to the Elite Eight in 2020-21 and 2021-22.
The Razorbacks job became available after head coach Eric Musselman departed to become the new head coach at USC. The program was previously in talks with Kansas State coach Jerome Tang and Ole Miss coach Chris Beard.
The Razorbacks lost both meetings to the Wildcats in 2023-24.
