Kenny Payne joins John Calipari's first Arkansas staff

After some speculation that a Kentucky reunion could be in the cards for Kenny Payne, the expected became reality on Thursday night. John Calipari is getting the band back together. Payne is staying in college basketball and will join the Arkansas coaching staff.

Hard to say that this move is a surprise at the end of the day.

The 57-year-old spent the last seasons as the head coach at Louisville after being tabbed to replace Chris Mack. The alum who played under Denny Crum at UofL from 1985-89 and was on Louisville’s national championship team in 1986 was brought home to reunite the Louisville fan base and lead the Cardinals into the new world.

That did not happen.

Payne’s tenure at UofL lasted only two seasons and ended with a 12-52 (5-35) record. The Cardinals had one of the worst — if not the worst — teams each of the last two seasons under Payne. The tenure was a disaster after the long-time assistant basketball coach spent two years with the New York Knicks working under Tom Thibodeau.

Arkansas is hoping that a return as an assistant coach under John Calipari will lead to some good things in Fayetteville.

Payne was an assistant for a decade at Kentucky under Calipari. The staffer owns a national championship ring and was a member of each Final Four team under Calipari. The No. 1 assistant left Lexington after the 2020 season and that is when things really started to unravel under Calipari. Arkansas is hopeful some of that decade magic at Kentucky will translate to Arkansas.

Calipari is getting the band back together. New Kentucky head coach Mark Pope is still in the beginning stages of assembling his first full staff in Lexington. Payne will not be a member of that staff.