NFL
By: Kevin Lucas
On the eve of the men’s National Championship game, the college basketball world was hit with groundbreaking news. After 15 years, a national title, and 4 Final Fours John Calipari has accepted the job at the University of Arkansas. Following Kentucky’s loss in the Round of 64 to Oakland it seemed that Big Blue Nation had lost all faith in coach Cal. On top of Calipari having a rocky relationship with UK’s athletic director Mitch Barnhart, the Wildcats haven’t been to a Sweet 16 since 2019. In the last 3 seasons, Kentucky has been bounced out of the NCAA Tournament by 15-seeded Saint Peter’s, 3-seeded Kansas State, and a 14-seed this year in the Oakland Golden Grizzlies. For such a historic program these results will not cut it especially when the coach is on a lifetime contract. Luckily for Calipari with Eric Musselman departing for USC, the perfect opportunity opened up for him.
Almost 2 weeks ago Arkansas’ athletic director Hunter Yurachek dropped a strange video on X (formerly known as Twitter) that hinted at Eric Musselman returning to Fayetteville for what would’ve been his 6th season. That all changed when Musselman decided to leave the SEC for the Big Ten by accepting the job at Southern Cal. Muss in his 5 seasons had brought Arkansas back to prominence by getting to 2 Elite 8’s and a Sweet 16. His exit left razorback fans everywhere feeling used and abandoned. Nonetheless, instead of feeling letdown after swinging and missing on Chris Beard and Jerome Tang, Yurachek cashed in on a golden opportunity by snagging a Hall of Fame coach away from Kentucky. At 65 years old Calipari will be more motivated than ever to make some more deep runs in the NCAA Tournament before he retires down the line. At Arkansas Calipari will get a fresh start, deal with slightly lower expectations, and still compete in a conference that he is very familiar with. With Arkansas’ NIL collectives and Cal’s recruiting scheme look for this program to stay and grow as a national power in the college hoops realm. Kentucky’s incoming 2024 recruiting class contains 2 major players in Boogie Fland and Jayden Quaintance and 4 other quality players. Look for a few of these guys to ask out of their National Letters of Intent and follow Cal to Fayetteville.
As for Kentucky, their coaching search will start with names like Danny Hurley and Scott Drew. This job opening is arguably the greatest job in all of college basketball. Calipari’s buyout was north of $30 million so with him taking another job they don’t owe him a single cent. Therefore, they will have plenty of appeal, money, and resources to reel in a top-tier coach in the sport. The pressure will be on Mitch Barnhart to find a coach that can get UK back to the promised land and keep them there for the foreseeable future. In this ever-changing landscape of collegiate athletics, it is important for a coach to prioritize roster continuity and embrace the transfer portal. Big Blue Nation shouldn’t have a hard time identifying their 23rd head coach in program history.
Coach Calipari is as sly as a fox but this move will pay off greatly for him, his family, and the University of Arkansas. The likelihood of Kentucky and Arkansas matching up multiple times throughout the next few years will provide great entertainment for college basketball fans everywhere. For Kentucky fans be glad that it happened….and as for Arkansas fans look forward to the endless possibilities these next few years can bring. John Calipari is the new leader of the Arkansas Razorback men’s basketball program. #WPS
