Mark Stoops thanks John Calipari after Kentucky 'basketball school' feud

Kentucky fans will recall when Mark Stoops took issue with John Calipari's remarks. Now, as Cal heads to Arkansas, Stoops honors his colleague.

Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari shouts to his team during their game against Gonzaga. / Clare Grant / Courier Journal / USA

Mark Stoops may not have agreed with John Calipari's statement that Kentucky was a basketball school, but now after the latter departs UK and heads to Arkansas, the Wildcats football coach is happy to thank his colleague for service to the school over the years.

"I will like to wish [John Calipari] and his family well in their new endeavor," Stoops said on X/Twitter. "We spent 11 years working together and I really appreciate all they did for UK and the Commonwealth."

Calipari leaving Kentucky means the end of a basically friendly, but keenly felt, dispute Stoops had with the former UK hoops coach, back when Calipari said his program is what put the school on the map athletically and should be the athletic department's primary concern.

"This is a basketball school," Calipari told The Athletic at the time. "It's always been that. Alabama is a football school. So is Georgia. I mean, they are."

He added: "No disrespect to our football team. I hope they win 10 games and go to bowls. At the end of the day, that makes my job easier and it makes the job of all of us easier. But this is a basketball school, and so we need to keep moving in that direction and keep doing what we're doing."

Stoops responded in kind, tweeting: "Basketball school? I thought we competed in the SEC? #4straightpostseasonwins."

He later added: "I don't care about what anybody says about their program. That's not my business. It's not my lane. But when you start talking about our program and others that we compete against. I don't do that. I stay in my lane."

Now, between the two, Stoops is the one standing, and Kentucky football looks to build on his work, which includes a 73-65 record overall and a 35-55 mark in SEC play since 2013.

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