John Calipari Joining Arkansas Razorbacks Will Send Ripples Through SEC

The famed former college basketball champion has announced he's leaving Kentucky after 15 seasons to coach Arkansas.

Kentucky’s John Calipari coaches his team against Vanderbilt. Feb. 2, 2022 / Scott Utterback / Courier Journal / USA

Soon-to-be former Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball coach is reportedly finalizing a five-year contract to become the next head coach at Arkansas.

Calipari's deal with the Razorbacks will reportedly be slightly less than the $8.5 annual salary he draws from Kentucky, but will include incentives that could surpass that number if met. ESPN reports the contract should be completed by the end of the day on Monday.

Kentucky’s John Calipari coaches his team against Vanderbilt. Feb. 2, 2022 / Scott Utterback / Courier Journal / USA

Calipari's move to Arkansas is curious, but he does have ties to one of the Razorbacks' most wealthy benefactors in John H. Tyson. Calipari would replace Eric Musselman, who left to become the coach at USC last week.

Kentucky has been a regular season powerhouse under Calipari, with little recent postseason success. His move within the SEC will still leave its mark.

Kentucky will always be a powerhouse as an attractive job for anyone offered it, and rest assured, the Wildcasts program will recover. They always do. But more importantly, it puts Arkansas on the SEC basketball map.

The Razorbacks should be a force within a couple of seasons of recruiting under Calipari. And as is true when any coach leaves one program for another in any sport these days, there's always the possibility of poaching the old roster for the new.

The Texas A&M Aggies have gone 5-11 against Kentucky since joining the SEC prior to the 2012 season, and 2-4 since Buzz Williams took over in College Station in 2019.

The move from Kentucky to Arkansas is most likely the result of immense pressure on Calipari over the past 15 seasons. Recently, however, the Wildcats haven't made it out of the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament since 2019 while suffering losses to 15-seed Saint Peter's and 14-seed Oakland.

Rumors of Calipari's departure swirled after Kentucky's first-round loss to Oakland in this year's NCAA Tournament, even though Wildcats athletic director Mitch Barnhart issued a statement in support of Calipari's return.

It was unlikely he'd be fired, as the program would owe Calipari $33 million. But if he accepts another job somewhere else, no money is owed.

Calipari led the Wildcats to the national championship in 2012 and has six Final Four's to his coaching resume. He also won the NIT championship in 2002 as the coach of Memphis.

The former UNC-Wilmington point guard has six SEC regular season titles, four Conference-USA tournament wins and five Conference-USA regular season titles.