On Wednesday, the University of Arkansas made it official that former Kentucky rival John Calipari will be the next coach of the Razorbacks men’s basketball team. The news that a deal was in the works between Arkansas and Calipari started to trickle in late Sunday night. Wess Moore of Fox 16 News had it first locally. By 10:30 p.m., it was front page news on ESPN’s website, leading their basketball coverage less than 24 hours before the national championship tip-off between Connecticut and Purdue.
The University of Arkansas Board of Trustees called a special meeting on Wednesday morning “to consider in excess of line item maximum for the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.”
Calipari will earn $8 million prorated over the remainder of the fiscal year, which ends on June 30. Including a yearly retention bonus, Calipari will earn $7.5 million for five years beginning on July 1. The yearly salary amounts are less the $8.5 million Calipari earned at Kentucky, but he could surpass that number with incentives. The contract includes a $1 million signing bonus, two additional years that can automatically be added to the deal based on NCAA tournament appearances, and one-time financial incentives for making the tournament and for reaching each subsequent round.
Under the terms of his prior contract, Calipari will not owe Kentucky a buyout for leaving. Had the university fired him, they would have owed him $33 million.
Calipari is a longtime friend of billionaire Tyson Foods chairman John H. Tyson. CBS Sports reported on Sunday that the Tyson family “is prepared to make a major commitment to land Calipari.”
Early Tuesday afternoon, Calipari issued a goodbye to Kentucky in a video posted to social media.
Calipari — known for embracing the one-and-done philosophy of recruiting NBA prospects who are bound for the pros after only one year of college basketball — went 410-123 over his 15 seasons in Lexington. He was hired in 2009 and made four Final Four appearances with Kentucky in his first six seasons, winning the national championship in 2012.
But Kentucky fans have grown restless with the team’s NCAA Tournament performance in recent years. Next spring will mark ten years since the last time the Wildcats reached the Final Four. Kentucky hasn’t made it past the first weekend of the tournament since their Elite 8 appearance in 2019, suffering surprising first round losses to #15 seed St. Peters in 2022 and #14 seed Oakland this year.
Calipari’s unlikely landing in Fayetteville was part of a cascade of events that began when SMU fired head basketball coach Rob Lanier on March 21. The Mustangs replaced him with USC coach Andy Enfield. The Trojans replaced Enfield with Arkansas coach Eric Musselman, whose exit from the UA followed a confusing video Yurachek tweeted of himself boarding a bus being driven by Musselman just before Easter.
Arkansas’s coaching search felt like a chaotic roller coaster leading up to Sunday night. According to reports, UA athletic director Hunter Yurachek targeted current Ole Miss coach (and former UA-Little Rock coach) Chris Beard as well as Kansas State coach Jerome Tang. Both coaches reportedly chose to stay with their current teams. Former LSU coach Will Wade, currently at McNeese State, was also reportedly in the mix.
On Saturday night the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported that Mississippi State coach Chris Jans and current UA-Little Rock Coach Darrell Walker would be interviewing for the job over Zoom with Yurachek, who was in Phoenix attending College Football Playoff Committee meetings.
Since the season ended for the Razorbacks (16-17, 6-12 SEC), Davonte Davis, Khalif Battle, Layden Blocker, Denijay Harris, Joseph Pinion, Keyon Menifield, Baye Fall and Tramon Mark have announced decisions to enter the transfer portal. Trevon Brazile announced on Monday after the Calipari news surfaced that he would hire an agent and turn his attention towards the upcoming NBA draft. Additionally, incoming freshmen recruits Isaiah Elohim and Jalen Shelley have reopened their recruitment.
The Calipari era at Arkansas will begin with zero scholarship players on the roster.
? ROSTER UPDATE ?
— Brandon Baker (@BBakerHogs) April 8, 2024
Isaiah Elohim has requested a release from his NLI.
Wow. pic.twitter.com/B2Xig3vGql
There is no word yet about which – if any – current Kentucky players or incoming recruits will be joining Calipari in Fayetteville.
Calipari will be formally introduced at Bud Walton Arena tonight at 6 p.m.