Shockingly, Kentucky men’s basketball coach John Calipari will not return for his 16th season in 2024-25. Prior to this decision, according to the University of Kentucky (UK) athletic director, Mitch Barnhart, tweeted: “As we normally do at the end of every season, Coach Calipari and I have had conversations about the direction of our men’s basketball program and I can confirm that he will return for his 16th season as our head coach.”
Calipari was the Wildcats head coach since 2009. In 2012, UK won their only National Championship of the 16-season Calipari era. Under his leadership, they had a 410-123 record according to ESPN.
The last three seasons the Wildcats have had positive seasons. Going 26-8 in 2021, 22-12 in 2022, and 23-10 this coming season. But since then, when it matters most, in March the wildcats have fallen up short every year. Two first round exits and a second-round exit have the fanbase fuming.
Many fans wanted a new change in the coaching role completely, some fans wanted Calipari to step into an ownership role rather than a coaching role.
When asked about how he felt about Calipari leaving, sophomore Grayson Schwalbach said: “It’s a sad feeling, it’s going to be different. I think it
was his time to go though based off of our last few seasons and how we did in March.”
This seems to be a common theme around the Wildcat nation.
The top three candidates to take over the men’s basketball coaching role for Kentucky are as listed; Nate Oats (head coach of Alabama), Scott Drew (head coach of Baylor) and Billy Donovan (ead coach of the Chicago Bulls). With this being one of the most prestigious basketball programs in the NCAA, the new head coaching job is being taken seriously.
“I think coach [Neptune] from villanova would be a good fit, he is a good coach with a winning background and i think he is the most qualified to take over our program,” Schwalbach added.
Calipari was seemingly in a rocky relationship with Barnhart towards the finalizing of the decision. The two made it public he would be returning before having a change in heart. He then agreed to take his talents to coach the Arkansas Razorbacks.
“Calipari signed a five-year contract starting at $7 million per season — less than the $8.5 million he was making with the Wildcats. The deal, announced Wednesday, includes a $1 million signing bonus and $500,000 retention bonuses each year of the contract, plus incentives for making the NCAA tournament and advancing deep into the tournament. There are also two automatic rollover years for NCAA tournament appearances that would extend the deal to 2031.” Per ESPN.
“John Tyson, the grandson of the founder of Arkansas-based Tyson Foods and current chairman of the board for the company, is a longtime friend of Calipari and a major Arkansas athletics supporter. Multiple reports have pointed to Tyson as the driver behind Arkansas’ pursuit of Calipari after the Razorbacks’ open job was reportedly turned down by multiple candidates,” said by Lexington Herald Leader.