John Calipari is getting close to signing an Arkansas contract. ‘Imminent’ is the former Kentucky coach’s takeover of the Razorbacks.
A source told CBS Sports that Calipari met with a number of athletic directors from Kentucky on Monday afternoon, but UK athletic director Mitch Barnhart was not among them. Though the famed coach has yet to sign a contract with Arkansas, Calipari confirmed his departure from Kentucky after 15 seasons as the Wildcats’ head coach on Tuesday in a video he tweeted.
According to CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander, Calipari and Arkansas’s power players had extensive discussions over the weekend, and by Sunday night, the two parties had reached a verbal agreement. According to one source, Calipari’s hiring as the Arkansas coach is “imminent,” and a deal might be signed as early as Tuesday.
Calipari’s contract is anticipated to be worth more than $8 million over a period of five years. It is anticipated that the major contributors to the school will contribute additional millions to Arkansas’ NIL collective, which might elevate the program to the top of the list for the greatest resource pool in the sport.
According to Norlander’s sources, the family of John Tyson, the largest supporter to Arkansas Athletics, is willing to spend millions on the men’s basketball team and make a significant sacrifice to win Calipari. Calipari and the Tyson family have a deep, long-standing relationship.
After leading the Wildcats program for the last 15 seasons, Calipari would stay in the SEC to replace Eric Musselman, who accepted an opportunity to become Arkansas’ next coach earlier this month. Eric Musselman took the vacant position at USC.
On Sunday night, Barnhart informed CBS Sports that he was unaware that Calipari had discussed with Arkansas AD Hunter Yurachek the possibility of Barnhart taking over as the school’s next coach. Nonetheless, sources claimed that Calipari was investigating Arkansas and vice versa, and that third parties had informed UK officials of this over the weekend. According to the conditions of his contract with Kentucky, Calipari must notify Barnhart if he schedules a job interview with a different university.
After nine seasons at Memphis, the 65-year-old Calipari accepted the position at Kentucky in 2009. Prior to taking a position as head coach at UMass from 1988 to 1996, Calipari served as an assistant coach at Kansas (1982–1985), Pittsburgh (1985–88), and other places. Calipari dabbled with the NBA, serving as the coach of the New Jersey Nets (now the Brooklyn Nets) from 1996 to 1999 and the Philadelphia 76ers’ assistant coach for one season in 1999–2000.
The yearly meeting between Calipari and Barnhart at the conclusion of each season precedes the report that Calipari is in talks with Arkansas. After that meeting, it was decided that Calipari would come back to the show for his sixteenth season. As a demonstration of their future good intentions, the two appeared on local television.
“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,” Barnhart stated in October.
The Wildcats’ season came to an end when they lost to No. 14 seed Oakland in the NCAA Tournament’s opening round. The setback infuriated the student body and sparked a lot of rumors about Calipari’s future at the institution. The Golden Grizzlies’ victory prevented Kentucky from making it to the NCAA Tournament’s second weekend for the third straight year. After losing to Kansas State and Saint Peter’s in the previous two seasons, Kentucky did not make it to the tournament in 2021.
Coached Kentucky’s final national championship squad in 2012, Calipari amassed a 410-122 record in his 15 years at the school and saw his team make four trips to the Final Four (2011), (2012), (2014), and (2015).
Calipari has a reputation for being among the nation’s top high school recruiters. In the 2023 recruiting cycle, Kentucky attracted the top recruiting class, which featured Aaron Bradshaw, Rob Dillingham, Justin Edwards, D.J. Wagner, and Reed Sheppard.
The incoming class of the Wildcats is ranked second in the nation, right behind Duke. Four-star guard Boogie Fland, four-star center Somto Cyril, four-star guard Travis Perry, four-star guard Billy Richmond, and four-star forward Karter Knox are among the five-star players in that recruiting class.
According to sources who spoke with CBS Sports, Calipari’s negotiations with Arkansas included talking about expanding the constraints surrounding his recruitment through the transfer portal and bringing in his freshmen class.
The position at Arkansas became available after Musselman moved to take over for former USC coach Andy Enfield, who left to take a job at SMU, where Rob Lanier was fired after just two seasons. During Musselman’s five seasons with Arkansas, the team made two trips to the Elite Eight and one to the Sweet 16. Arkansas has not advanced that far since 1996, but Musselman’s 2021 run got the school there.
With a 16–17 overall record and a 6–12 SEC record at the end of the season, the Razorbacks missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time under head coach Musselman. Tramon Mark, Khalif Battle, and Devonte Davis are just a few of the Arkansas players who have already logged into the transfer portal.