Jay Williams goes off on John Calipari move: 'Who leaves Kentucky basketball for Arkansas?'
John Calipari is leaving Kentucky for Arkansas, and Jay Williams can’t believe it. On Monday, the ESPN analyst exploded about the cataclysmic decision.
“There are a certain juncture of Kentucky fans who have been spoiled by the success happening at Kentucky,” Williams said. “I know that former players and fans say, ‘Well, we don’t care about being relevant. It’s about winning chips.’ But, John Calipari damnit is one of the best to do it in the game, and they ran him out of Lexington.
“They may not like to hear this. They ran the second all-time winningest coach in Kentucky basketball out of Kentucky,” Williams continued. “We’re having John Calipari leave Kentucky for Arkansas, a parallel move in the SEC? And he’s gonna take Kentucky recruits with him to Arkansas. That’s what happened? That’s what we’re watching? That’s what we’re talking about on the day of the National Championship game? Calipari leaving Kentucky basketball — who leaves Kentucky basketball for Arkansas?”
Williams has a point. In Calipari’s 15 seasons at the helm of Kentucky, he had a 410-122 record, three Final Four appearances in 2011, 2014 and 2015 and a national title in 2012. Further, while at UK, Calipari produced three No.1 selections, 35 first-rounders, 23 lottery picks and 47 total NBA draftees.
Despite Calipari’s undeniable accolades, many Kentucky fans would disagree with Williams. After the Wildcats fell in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to No. 14 seed Oakland, countless Kentucky fanatics called for Calipari’s job.
It was the second time in three seasons Kentucky had fallen victim to a No. 14 seed or worse, infamously losing to No. 15 seed Saint Peter’s in the 2022 NCAA Tournament. Further, Kentucky has only won one game in the Big Dance in the past five seasons.
Calipari was the most popular man in the state from 2010-18. Nonetheless, the relationship slowly soured and Calipari reportedly felt the pressure.
“John Calipari was on solid contractual ground at Kentucky owed $33 million if they were going to fire him. But he was in a penniless state with the fanbase,” ESPN’s Pete Thamel said during an appearance on Get Up on Monday morning.
“What he did was run to open arms at Arkansas,” Thamel added. “It’s a great reboot for both sides. Kentucky gets to go and chase a Billy Donovan, they get to go and maybe they’ll throw a bunch of money at Dan Hurley if he wins tomorrow night.”
Kentucky will have no shortage of candidates to go after. From Nate Oats to Dan Hurley, the program will search far and wide for its next head coach for the first time in 15 years.