John Calipari lost his way. Can he and Kentucky find it again?
1 year, 1 month ago

John Calipari lost his way. Can he and Kentucky find it again?

New York Times  

LEXINGTON, Ky. — On April 4, 2015, John Calipari was the king of college basketball. He was one of those guys Cal leaned on in a lot of ways, for a lot of things, that I think maybe after 30 years together, you just kind of take for granted – and when they’re gone, there’s a massive void there.” The 2016-17 team, led by De’Aaron Fox, Malik Monk and Bam Adebayo, was “the last fun team to watch at Kentucky,” said the third former staffer. He tried to under-teach and over-coach, and that’s a bad combination.” Calipari’s infamous Two Circle play, often used as a stall tactic, “became our go-to offense,” the second former staffer said. “There’s been times the team wasn’t performing well and he was focused on saying some sh– or putting out something to get back at Matt Jones,” said the fourth former staffer. “If you ask me talent or experience, I’m taking talent, and the talent usually figures it out,” Calipari said at media day last week.

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History of this topic

Kentucky hires BYU’s Mark Pope as men’s basketball coach to replace John Calipari
8 months, 1 week ago

Kentucky hires BYU’s Mark Pope as men’s basketball coach to replace John Calipari

Associated Press  

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Initially off the radar among Kentucky’s coaching targets, Mark Pope is now entrusted with maintaining the program’s gold standard. Kentucky hired the BYU coach to guide its men’s basketball program, bringing home a captain of the Wildcats’ 1996 national championship team to succeed John Calipari. Saint John’s coach Rick Pitino, a Hall of Famer who led Kentucky …

Arkansas hires John Calipari to coach the Razorbacks, a day after stepping down from Kentucky
8 months, 1 week ago

Arkansas hires John Calipari to coach the Razorbacks, a day after stepping down from Kentucky

Hindustan Times  

— Arkansas hired John Calipari as men’s basketball coach on Wednesday, a day after the Hall of Fame coach stepped down from the Kentucky program he led to the 2012 NCAA championship. Calipari inherits a program that went 16-17 last season after three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, including the Sweet 16 a year ago and the Elite Eight in 2021 …

Arkansas hires John Calipari to coach the Razorbacks, a day after stepping down from Kentucky
8 months, 1 week ago

Arkansas hires John Calipari to coach the Razorbacks, a day after stepping down from Kentucky

Associated Press  

— Fireworks went off as new Arkansas men’s basketball coach John Calipari was introduced to fans at Bud Walton Arena. Calipari’s Kentucky teams won six conference tournament championships and six regular season titles, though the Wildcats haven’t won the tournament title since 2017. Calipari announced that he was stepping down as Kentucky coach on Tuesday, saying in a video that …

John Calipari departs Kentucky after 15 years, saying the program ‘needs to hear another voice’
8 months, 2 weeks ago

John Calipari departs Kentucky after 15 years, saying the program ‘needs to hear another voice’

Associated Press  

LEXINGTON, Ky. — There were too many people for John Calipari to thank by name, and too many moments to single out from one of the most fulfilling chapters of his career. Calipari stepped down as Kentucky’s men’s basketball coach after 15 years on Tuesday, saying that the “program probably needs to hear another voice” amid reports that he’s closing …

Kentucky coach John Calipari talking with Arkansas about open job, according to multiple outlets
8 months, 2 weeks ago

Kentucky coach John Calipari talking with Arkansas about open job, according to multiple outlets

Associated Press  

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Longtime Kentucky coach John Calipari was in negotiations to potentially leave and take the men’s basketball coaching job at Arkansas, multiple outlets reported late Sunday. Athletic director Mitch Barnhart recently said Calipari would return, despite calls for his firing following the Wildcats’ third consecutive early exit from the NCAA Tournament. Kentucky’s quick exit drew immediate calls for …

Kentucky and John Calipari were stuck. Arkansas saved them from themselves.
8 months, 2 weeks ago

Kentucky and John Calipari were stuck. Arkansas saved them from themselves.

New York Times  

So was John Calipari. We’ve had some highs and lows and we’ve had some things that haven’t gone exactly the way we wanted to, but by and large, I’m sitting next to a guy that I brought here 15 years ago and we’ve been together just fine.” Just fine is an apt description of the Kentucky program since 2020, and …

Kentucky AD: Calipari will return as coach, despite calls for his firing after early NCAA exit
8 months, 3 weeks ago

Kentucky AD: Calipari will return as coach, despite calls for his firing after early NCAA exit

Associated Press  

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart confirmed on social media that John Calipari will return as men’s basketball coach despite calls for his firing following the Wildcats’ third consecutive early exit from the NCAA Tournament. Barnhart posted Tuesday night on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he and the Hall of Fame coach have talked about the direction …

March Madness scores: Should Kentucky fire John Calipari after Oakland upsets him in the NCAA Tournament’s first round?
9 months ago

March Madness scores: Should Kentucky fire John Calipari after Oakland upsets him in the NCAA Tournament’s first round?

Slate  

Kentucky basketball’s latest NCAA Tournament humiliation is enormous, but it’s not the worst the program has endured in the past three seasons. It includes a national championship in 2012, when Calipari didn’t just assemble one of the best rosters in the country but got it to play well at the right time. Kentucky is the bluest of bluebloods, and three …

Another early exit for Kentucky, Calipari shows his program is far removed from its heyday
9 months ago

Another early exit for Kentucky, Calipari shows his program is far removed from its heyday

Associated Press  

PITTSBURGH — John Calipari finished the postgame handshake line and made a beeline toward the locker room. Unable to slow Oakland’s graduate guard Jack Gohlke, who made 10 3- pointers, second-seeded Kentucky fell 80-76 on Thursday night in the first round of the Midwest Region. When you have a really young team and you look at where did the mistakes …

March Madness: Back home during the NCAAs, Calipari hoping Kentucky can mirror his blue-collar roots
9 months ago

March Madness: Back home during the NCAAs, Calipari hoping Kentucky can mirror his blue-collar roots

Associated Press  

PITTSBURGH — John Calipari’s blue-collar roots still run deep. “For a couple years, if one or two players played poorly, I didn’t have subs, you left them in and you end up losing,” Calipari said. “My job right now is to just, one: every year, make sure they’re playing their best basketball in March,” Calipari said. “If we play well …

John Calipari finally fills Kentucky roster after working longer for recruits and transfers
1 year, 5 months ago

John Calipari finally fills Kentucky roster after working longer for recruits and transfers

Associated Press  

LEXINGTON, Ky. — The angst among Kentucky’s fervent fan base was palpable as the Wildcats listed just seven scholarship players and coach John Calipari worked to fill out a roster that lost 2022 consensus national player of the year Oscar Tshiebwe among eight departures. “We’ve got a lot of playmakers on the team that look for each other,” said fifth-year …

Kentucky’s John Calipari recruiting more freshmen for his youth-dominant roster
1 year, 6 months ago

Kentucky’s John Calipari recruiting more freshmen for his youth-dominant roster

New York Times  

Kentucky’s first offseason additions are finally imminent — with a snag, of course, as former Ole Miss commit and Overtime Elite leading scorer Jordan Burks pushed back his announcement from Wednesday to Monday — even if they do nothing to solve the experience problem in Lexington. “It’s going to be so interesting to watch Kentucky with all this talent but …

How worried should Kentucky fans be about John Calipari’s thin, young roster?
1 year, 6 months ago

How worried should Kentucky fans be about John Calipari’s thin, young roster?

New York Times  

Here’s how you know it is not unreasonable to be a bit panicky, Kentucky fans: John Calipari took to social media Thursday morning to tell you there’s no reason to panic. “There’s so much misinformation out there,” Calipari wrote Thursday, making an apparent reference to gaudy NIL deals and demands when he added: “Numbers being thrown around just aren’t accurate …

Kentucky cancels its obituary, rises from rock bottom to shock Tennessee
1 year, 11 months ago

Kentucky cancels its obituary, rises from rock bottom to shock Tennessee

New York Times  

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — John Calipari apologized for his appearance. Obituaries for Calipari’s coaching ability were hastily prepared as his team hurtled toward fifth-ranked Tennessee and what figured to be a fiery crash into rock bottom Saturday. When Tennessee beat South Carolina by 43 in Columbia last weekend, then South Carolina went to Rupp Arena and punked UK, the smart money …

Kentucky, Calipari frustrated by season-long struggles
1 year, 11 months ago

Kentucky, Calipari frustrated by season-long struggles

Associated Press  

The AP Top 25 college football poll is back every week throughout the season! LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kentucky All-American forward Oscar Tshiebwe is wondering whether the Wildcats’ walk-ons should play at this point in a frustrating season, just to show some fire. “Play the people who are willing to fight, even some walk-ons,” the usually affable senior said after Tuesday …

What’s gone wrong for Kentucky basketball and John Calipari, and what happens now?
1 year, 11 months ago

What’s gone wrong for Kentucky basketball and John Calipari, and what happens now?

New York Times  

It’s gone from bad to brutal since we opened up the mailbag to your questions, Kentucky fans. Recent reports of mutual interest between Texas and Calipari — and, yes, we’re told there has been some initial back-channel communication there — remind us that his flirtation with UCLA almost four years ago is what induced UK athletic director Mitch Barnhart to …

Is Kentucky’s John Calipari now the Jimbo Fisher of college basketball?
1 year, 11 months ago

Is Kentucky’s John Calipari now the Jimbo Fisher of college basketball?

New York Times  

Fueled by the bold-faced diminishing returns in the last three seasons, the seat under John Calipari’s tush is burning hotter than at any time in his collegiate head-coaching career. “You got guys not knowing what plays they’re running,’’ one coach says. “An offensive coordinator, someone new or an NBA guy, that could help him,’’ one coach says. “Tshiebwe is an …

Kentucky should be better than this. Enough with the excuses, John Calipari
2 years, 1 month ago

Kentucky should be better than this. Enough with the excuses, John Calipari

New York Times  

SPOKANE, Wash. — Mark Few is one of John Calipari’s best friends. Because, no, Few and second-ranked Gonzaga didn’t beat the fourth-ranked Wildcats simply by having more “fight” as Calipari has said so many times and said again Sunday. That’s right, even as Tshiebwe went for 22 points and 18 rebounds against the Spartans and 20 and 15 against Gonzaga, …

John Calipari: Comparing Kentucky to others was “my bad”
2 years, 4 months ago

John Calipari: Comparing Kentucky to others was “my bad”

Associated Press  

The AP Top 25 college football poll is back every week throughout the season! LEXINGTON, Ky. — John Calipari says he made a mistake comparing Kentucky’s athletic department to others and wants to make clear he will keep supporting the Wildcats’ football team. Calipari wrote on social media Saturday that he heard what Kentucky football coach Mark Stoops said in …

It’s John Calipari vs. Mark Stoops after the Kentucky basketball coach steps in it
2 years, 4 months ago

It’s John Calipari vs. Mark Stoops after the Kentucky basketball coach steps in it

New York Times  

On Dec. 9, 2011, John Calipari held a press conference in Lexington, Ky. But after the last couple years, as apparently more and more Kentucky fans seem to wonder about his ability to win UK another national title, you can’t help but look at what Calipari told The Athletic’s Kyle Tucker in his appeal for a new practice facility in …

Nine thoughts on Kentucky’s 9 scholarship players as John Calipari waits on TyTy Washington’s decision
3 years, 7 months ago

Nine thoughts on Kentucky’s 9 scholarship players as John Calipari waits on TyTy Washington’s decision

New York Times  

Pitchforks in hand, Kentucky fans all had essentially the same message for John Calipari after last season, the Wildcats’ worst in almost a century: Something’s gotta change. Oscar Tshiebwe 2020-21: Sophomore — 8.5 ppg, 7.8 rpg On the long list of things Kentucky needed last season, a grown-ass man in the paint certainly would’ve helped. Tshiebwe, a McDonald’s All-American who …

Dontaie Allen goes off, Kentucky wins and John Calipari is proven wrong
3 years, 11 months ago

Dontaie Allen goes off, Kentucky wins and John Calipari is proven wrong

New York Times  

John Calipari knows he’ll never hear the end of this one: about how absurdly well Dontaie Allen played when the homegrown sharpshooter finally got a chance; about how much better Kentucky played after Calipari was ejected on Saturday night at Mississippi State; about how a little of that zone defense he loathes looked great in his absence; and how assistant …

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