KSR Today: A Pivotal John Calipari and Mitch Barnhart Meeting

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John Calipari’s future at Kentucky will be decided today, although, based on reports last night and Calipari’s own remarks, we are trending toward year 16 of his tenure. A meeting today could change that.

Calipari was expected to return to Lexington from his home in New Jersey on Monday. That did not happen, so his meeting with athletics director Mitch Barnhart will take place today once he touches down in the Bluegrass. According to national reports, a separation is unlikely but only if there are agreements made regarding significant improvements to the program and therefore, its postseason results. On his radio show last night, Calipari outlined what that could look like.

— Better Defense: Calipari admitted that this team’s Achilles’ heel, no matter how many tweaks or baby steps of progress were made, was defense. His fix? Instead of taking a summer trip to the Bahamas or Toronto, next season’s team will work on defense with an emphasis on physicality.

— A change of tune regarding stay-or-go decisions: A tenet of John Calipari’s tenure has been his players-first philosophy. If one of his players is projected to go high in the NBA Draft, he’s been known to rip up scholarship papers, putting his players, and their families, ahead of the program. That may not be the case this year. When asked about the annual stay-or-go meetings, Calipari claimed he has never told anyone they have to leave or stay, and if a player tells him they’re coming back, they’ll have his full support for a revenge tour.

To whom specifically is he referencing? Calipari didn’t name names but when Goose Givens asked if he’ll target an experienced point guard in the transfer portal, Calipari said “one or two” players could come back to “solve that issue for us.” Last I checked DJ Wagner and Reed Sheppard played point guard for Kentucky.

— Experience/physicality from the portal: Calipari did not say he would back off recruiting elite freshmen; however, he did say he would complement those freshmen with older players from the transfer portal. While the transfers Kentucky has brought in have been talented — Antonio Reeves and Tre Mitchell combined for 41 of Kentucky’s 76 points in the loss to Oakland — Calipari said he’ll also be seeking physicality and leadership from the veterans he adds to the roster.

Outside of his plans for next season, Calipari talked about how much he’s been hurting since the loss (he shut off his phone for two days) and his continued commitment to the program, its fans, and the gold standard. This was yet another end-of-season radio show after an early March exit, so we’ve heard all of this before and BBN is beyond tired of lip service, but Calipari clearly wanted to make his pitch before speaking to Mitch. If he’s retained, fans will have to wait a long time to find out if those words translate to action in March 2025.

So, what will happen in today’s meeting? Will it be white smoke or black smoke coming up from the Joe Craft Center? We’ll obviously know if Mitch Barnhart decides a change is needed; otherwise, history tells us he won’t spill the details.

We will share the news that breaks on the site and the rumblings we hear on KSBoard, the fastest-growing community of Kentucky fans online. Get in here as we talk about what we’re hearing and feeling. We’ve had record growth in recent days, so shoutout to all our new members. I wish we were preparing to go to a Sweet 16 instead.

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Elsewhere in the UK Sports world…

Spring Practice rolls on

Across campus, the Kentucky Football team will be holding its fourth spring practice, after which we’ll hear from Bush Hamdan and members of the offense. Nick Roush is in Lexington to bring you all the latest as we sprinkle a little football content into the basketball chaos. We’ll have a practice report up on the site later this morning along with interviews on the KSR YouTube Channel. The spring game is two weeks from Saturday, on April 13.

Kentucky Baseball hosts Miami

Will Mother Nature play ball? We’ve got two games happening on adjacent diamonds this evening, so this rain needs to hustle out of here. At 6:30 p.m. ET, the No. 15 Kentucky Baseball team will host Miami University at Kentucky Proud Park. The Bat Cats are coming off a series win at Missouri, which brought their record to 20-4, 5-1 in the SEC, and a tie with Arkansas atop the conference standings. They head to No. 22 Ole Miss this weekend.

Tonight’s game will stream live on SEC Network+. You can also listen on the UK Sports Network (98.5 locally).

Kentucky Softball hosts Dayton

At John Cropp Stadium, the Kentucky Softball team is back in action after a tough series loss at No. 10 Florida. Tonight at 6 p.m., the Cats host Dayton. Rachel Lawson’s squad is 20-11 this season and 0-6 in conference play. They’ll have a chance to notch their first SEC win(s) at home vs. Alabama this weekend.

Louisville’s coaching search is still messy

While we’ve been fretting over John Calipari and Kentucky, the drama continues at the University of Louisville. By now, you know that Dusty May turned down the Cards to coach Michigan. Now, Josh Schertz, the head coach of Indiana State, appears to be the frontrunner, but UofL’s color announcer Bob Valvano may have ruined it all. Yesterday, Valvano said on his radio show that Schertz told him May received death threats from Louisville fans and took the job at Michigan as a result. Turns out Valvano was putting words into Schertz’s mouth by misinterpreting a joke. Valvano has now apologized.