John Calipari has officially left Kentucky for Arkansas, where he will be officially introduced at a press conference Wednesday evening.
One of the factors that played a role in Calipari exiting Lexington after 15 seasons was his recent struggles in the NCAA Tournament. In the last five seasons, Calipari won only one NCAA Tournament game and suffered first-round losses to No. 14 and No. 15 seeds.
If Calipari had left in 2019, none of this would have happened. According to a new report from Shams Charania and Kyle Tucker of The Athletic, that almost happened.
Charania and Tucker cite a source close to Calipari who said the coach “regrets” not leaving Kentucky for UCLA when he had the opportunity to do so five years ago.
“That was the time to bolt, he now admits privately. But Kentucky ponied up a 10-year, $86 million contract to keep him in Lexington, and the Bruins couldn’t match,” the article states.
At the time, Calipari was coming off an Elite Eight loss to Auburn. He had not reached the Final Four in four years after a stretch from 2010-15 that featured four Final Four appearances and a national championship in 2012.
UCLA eventually hired Mick Cronin, who has led the Bruins to a Final Four and two additional Sweet 16s in five seasons. In that time frame, Calipari’s good will with the Kentucky fan base began to erode.
All of this led to his decision to head to Arkansas, where he’ll look to lead the program to its first Final Four and national championship in 30 years.