John Calipari is no longer the head basketball coach at the University of Kentucky. After a day of rumors linking Calipari to the coaching vacancy at Arkansas, multiple reports indicate that Calipari is on his way to Fayetteville.
Sources: 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.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) April 8, 2024
Source: John Calipari to Arkansas is done. He is set to make around $8 million per year. pic.twitter.com/lZQho2TNyf
— Trey Schaap (@TreySchaap) April 8, 2024
John Calipari is leaving Kentucky and is nearing a massive new deal to become the new head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks, two sources tell me and @DanaONeilWriter.
Story developing at @TheAthletic: https://t.co/c3Fq31VvQ3
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 8, 2024
Source reiterates Calipari to Arkansas is imminent. He doesn’t have a proper agent and this is a very delicate decision. As was told to me previously: Cal directly approaching Barnhart would mean it’s done. As of two minutes ago, Barnhart still hasn’t been contacted by Calipari
— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) April 8, 2024
Reports began to circulate on Sunday evening linking Calipari to the Arkansas job, and eventually, Matt Norlander of CBS Sports brought word that Calipari “entered into serious talks” with the school about the position. The job opened earlier in April when Eric Musselman left the Razorbacks to become the next head coach at USC.
Calipari has been the head coach at Kentucky since 2009, and led the program to a national championship in 2012. However, in recent years, his tenure has been defined by his inability to live up to expectations on the court in spite of Calipari’s ability to recruit — the program missed the NCAA Tournament in 2020-21 due to a sub-.500 record, then failed to make it out of the first weekend in each of the last three years. In two of those appearances, they lost to a double-digit seed, as they fell to 15-seed Saint Peter’s in 2022 and 14-seed Oakland in 2024.
There were reports that Calipari’s job could have been in trouble following the Oakland loss, but Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart announced that he would return in 2024-25. That, of course, was before the Arkansas job opened up, and now, Calipari will only return to Lexington next year as the head coach of the Razorbacks for an SEC game.
