John Calipari to Arkansas: The College Basketball World Reacts
John Calipari is moving on after 15 years in Lexington. He rattled off four Final Fours and won a National Championship in his first six seasons, but the last five years have produced lackluster results. Even though many around the BBN were ready to see Calipari elsewhere next season, it was still a shocking Sunday night for the world of college basketball. Here’s what the pundits are saying about Cal’s decision to take his talents to Arkansas.
Paul Finebaum: A ‘Win-Win’ for Kentucky and Arkansas
ESPN tipped off National Championship day by bringing in a host of pundits to discuss John Calipari’s move on Get Up. Paul Finebaum sees the big change in the sport as a positive for both programs.
“Amazingly, I think both fanbases are happy this morning. You say, ‘How could that be? Cal is a legend.’ Well, he’s a legend who had really played out at the University of Kentucky. Fans were tired of him… I think he came within a whisker of getting fired and the only reason he stayed there, a $33 million buyout,” said Finebaum
“Meanwhile, Arkansas has been a great program. We know about Nolan Richardson and that epic era, but Eric Musselman had taken them to two Elite Eights and three Sweet 16s. When he left the other day, people were asking, ‘Where is this program going to go?’ They get John Calipari, who on one hand may be diminished, but when you give him a chance to restart, he might be welcome to that fanbase.”
Jay Williams says BBN “Ran (Calipari) out of town”
Jay Williams isn’t great at tactfully crafting takes. He prefers the low-hanging fruit, which is why he blamed Kentucky fans for running Calipari out of Lexington.
“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,” Williams said on Get Up.
“They may not like to hear this. They ran the second all-time winningest coach in Kentucky basketball out of Kentucky.”
ESPN asks, “Is the move good or bad for Kentucky?”
Many Kentucky fans are celebrating a change in the Kentucky basketball program after five unfulfilling seasons. Neither Myron Medcalf nor Jeff Borzello are sure how the program will handle such a dramatic change.
Medcalf: That’s a complicated question. Calipari had the flair (and hint of arrogance), personality and experience to handle the demands of a rabid fan base that craved the success he had brought in his first six seasons — including a national title. It’s a unique role, one only Rick Pitino and Calipari have excelled in over the past 30 years. There is no clear successor who can continue to attract five-star recruits and future NBA stars. The new coach also will have to endure the expectations of a fan base that hasn’t witnessed a national title run since 2012 but still expects to compete for a championship every season.
Borzello: It’s going to be hard to answer this right now. While Calipari’s buyout was the biggest impediment to firing the Hall of Fame coach, the lack of a natural replacement was second on the list. Most of the logical successors either have huge buyouts or won’t make the move. If Kentucky has to dip down into its second- or third-tier candidate pool, it might not be a great move for the Wildcats.
Dick Vitale
Pat Forde Hammers Calipari, “A Champion Turned Charlatan”
Pat Forde and John Calipari have always been at odds. The most recent clapback from Forde centered around the recruitment of Reed Sheppard, accompanied by the SI headline, “John Calipari vs The State of Kentucky.” Following Calipari’s departure, Forde took off the gloves, calling Calipari’s move a “voluntary demotion.”
“John Calipari, champion turned charlatan, took the easy way out of Lexington,” Forde wrote for Athlon. “He chickened out of a challenge and fled for the chicken money, abruptly leaving for Arkansas with his tail between his legs. The cockiest man in college basketball tacitly admitted he can’t fix what he built up and then broke at Kentucky.”
Matt Norlander: This is what John Calipari Needed
CBS Sports reporter Matt Norlander was all over this story on Sunday night. Once the dust settled, he went live on YouTube to discuss the seismic shift in college basketball. In his eyes, it’s a win for both parties, particularly Calipari, who was digging himself into a rut at Kentucky.
“There is a very, very real possibility here that this is the best result for both sides,” said Norlander. “John Calipari gets a new life. He’s going to be much happier with a new challenge, invigorated, an incredible burst for college basketball in the news cycle that’s going to — this is jet fuel through April minimally.
“For Cal, I think this is a healthy thing for him as a human being. For Kentucky fans, they’re finally like, ‘Thank God, we don’t have to live through this anymore.'”
John Fanta: One of the Most Shocking Moves in CBB History
Even though the last five years of the John Calipari era at Kentucky did not live up to his first decade of success, the move was nonetheless shocking for the college basketball world.
“For Kentucky fans, it’s a stunner. It could end up being a good thing,” said Fanta. “For Arkansas, it is the splash of all splashes. Calipari’s relationship with John Tyson of the Tyson family, a major donor of Arkansas is what got this to the finish line.”
Field of 68 Picks Calipari’s Successor
Many names will be thrown around in the coming days. Jeff Goodman believes the answer is for Mitch Barnhart is simple. Bruce Pearl has had plenty of success in the SEC and an obtainable buyout. “Easy answer for me… He fits Lexington perfectly.”
The Field of 68 crew also kicked around the idea of Sean Miller stepping up to the plate after two years at Xavier.
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