What Could Have Been: Calipari Admits Privately That Not Accepting UCLA Position Was a Missed Opportunity
A recent article explains why John Calipari is moving from Kentucky to Arkansas, a decision that fundamentally alters the landscape of men’s collegiate basketball. If Calipari could go back in time, he may be coaching at a different prestigious university.
The Athletic reported that in recent years, Calipari’s relationship with a number of influential people in Kentucky, including athletic director Mitch Barnhart, had “deteriorated.” It has been stated that Calipari and Barnhart disagreed about the program’s direction in the age of name-image-likeness compensation and the transfer portal. Tensions reportedly grew to the point that Calipari publicly regretted not accepting the UCLA position in 2019.
In an attempt to retain Calipari in Lexington, Kentucky reacted with a 10-year, $86 million contract, which UCLA was unable to match. The Bruins had reportedly offered Calipari a 6-year, $48 million contract to replace former head coach Steve Alford. Calipari is rumored to still regret this choice, which may have influenced his choice to leave Kentucky this week.
Following their hiring, the Bruins brought in Mick Cronin, who led the team to an unexpected Final Four run in 2021 and appearances in the Sweet 16 the next two years, until missing the tournament this past season.
Coincidentally, earlier this week, during an appearance on “The Herd” with Colin Cowherd, Cronin swiftly dismissed any interest in the now-vacant Kentucky job.
Even though Cronin mentioned that he was raised 60 miles away from Lexington and had previously served as coach at Cincinnati, he stated he would “turn left on Sunset” if Kentucky called him about taking Calipari’s job, adding that he is content with his current situation.
“Some of these jobs, the expectations are so high that the magnitude of the job, you can’t feed the beast forever,” Cronin said. “When you feed the beast early — and [Calipari] had unbelievable success — and when you can’t repeat that, it’s really hard. It’s just a hard existence. … That job is really different than any other job, because of the fan base and no pro sports [in Kentucky].”
To Cronin’s point, Calipari took over Kentucky in 2008 and guided the Wildcats to four Final Fours and a national championship in his first eight seasons as head coach, compiling one of the best multiyear runs in recent memory. With almost 50 players selected by the NBA, including All-Stars DeMarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis, John Wall, Karl-Anthony Towns, Devin Booker, and others, he also transformed Kentucky into a breeding ground for NBA talent.
However, since declining UCLA’s offer in 2019, Calipari has struggled at Kentucky. In the previous five years, he has only won one NCAA tournament game, and he has suffered humiliating first-round upset losses to No. 14 seed Oakland this month and No. 15 seed Saint Peter’s in 2022.
Now, at one of the most prominent teams in college basketball, another coach will have to live up to those high standards. Following the Huskies’ victory over Purdue in the championship game on Monday, Dan Hurley, the coach of UConn and two-time national champion (and presumably Kentucky’s top target), laughed at the idea of relocating his family from his hometown in the northeast to Lexington.
This week, there have been multiple reports linking Kentucky to Scott Drew, the 2021 national champion and coach at Baylor. However, on Tuesday afternoon, Drew shared a photo of himself enjoying lunch with a Baylor donor in Waco, Texas, which may suggest that a move to Kentucky is far from certain.