John Calipari has signed a five-year contract to become the University of Arkansas' next men's basketball coach, sources told ESPN Sunday night. This will be a huge hit that will shake up the SEC and college basketball world.
The transaction is expected to close within the next 24 hours.
Calipari is Kentucky's second-highest paid coach in the nation, earning more than $8.5 million annually. Sources told ESPN that Arkansas offered nearly $5 million when it pursued Ole Miss' Chris Beard after Eric Musselman decided to commit to the University of Southern California last week. It is believed that he issued.
After Musselman left for USC, Arkansas State athletic director Hunter Yurachek pursued Beard and Kansas State's Jerome Tan, but both coaches returned to their respective schools.
The Wildcats have missed the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament since 2019, suffering upset losses to 15th-seeded St. Peter's University and 14th-seeded Oakland University, so Calipari said his tenure at Kentucky He was under more pressure than at any other time. in recent years.
After the first-round loss to Oakland, there was speculation about Calipari's position, and athletic director Mitch Barnhart was forced to issue a statement confirming that Calipari would return as the Wildcats' head coach next season. .
Kentucky would owe Calipari more than $33 million if it waived him, but the school would owe nothing if it hired him from Lexington at another program.
Calipari, one of the biggest names in college sports, has been at the University of Kentucky since 2009. He led the Wildcats to a national title in 2012 and four Final Four appearances in his first six seasons in Lexington. Kentucky has since reached the Elite Eight twice, in 2017 and 2019, but has only won one game in the NCAA Tournament since its last run to the regional finals.
Off the court, he established the Wildcats as a national recruiting powerhouse, consistently landing top-ranked recruiting classes.
In 15 seasons with the Wildcats, Calipari went 410-123.
Calipari was the head coach at Memphis for nine seasons before taking over for Billy Gillispie at Kentucky in 2009. He led the Tigers to the Elite Eight twice and reached the national championship game in 2008, but lost in overtime to the University of Kansas.
Calipari also led the University of Massachusetts to the Final Four in 1996 before leaving for the NBA and coaching the New Jersey Nets for three seasons.