Shocking Move: John Calipari to Leave Kentucky for Arkansas Head Coach Job
John Calipari has taken center stage on the eve of the largest men’s college basketball national championship game in recent memory.
According to sources who spoke with FOX Sports, the Hall of Famer is leaving Kentucky after 15 seasons to seek a head coaching position at Arkansas.
The 65-year-old Calipari, who joined Kentucky in 2009 and guided the Wildcats to a national title in 2012, is taking over in Fayetteville and remaining in the SEC, which is among the most surprising coaching decisions in sports history.
Calipari will take over for Eric Musselman, who left the Razorbacks on his own volition for USC this past week after a 16-17 campaign, after Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart gave him a vote of confidence and decided to bring him back following another disappointing finish to a season in Lexington, with the Wildcats failing to make the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament for four consecutive years.
What made this agreement work? Calipari’s tight friendship with John Tyson of the Tyson Family, one of the University of Arkansas’s largest athletic donors. Sources claim that Calipari and Tyson recently played golf together while reports of Musselman possibly moving to the West Coast began to circulate, making Kentucky’s fan base increasingly disenchanted with Calipari.
Calipari’s decision to leave throws out a buyout of over $33 million had Kentucky fired him.
Calipari leaves Kentucky having finished 410-122 in Lexington, but he has only managed one victory in the last four NCAA Tournaments, which included upset losses to No. 15 seed Saint Peter’s in 2022 and No. 14 seed Oakland in the previous round this past month.
During his tenure at Kentucky, Calipari established one of the largest NBA talent farms in college basketball, producing stars like Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Davis, John Wall, and De’Aaron Fox, among many others.