Longtime Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari shocked everyone this weekend by deciding to leave town and join their SEC rival, the Arkansas Razorbacks. And on Tuesday, he finally decided to break his silence about the move, taking to social media to address “Big Blue Nation”, otherwise known as the Kentucky fanbase, to explain his decision.
Calipari spent 15 seasons as head coach of the Wildcats, experiencing some of the highest highs a program can reach. But unfortunately, their recent performances in the NCAA Tournament have fallen flat, getting out of the first round of the “Big Dance” just once in the last five years.
Calipari posted a nearly four-minute video on social media on Tuesday, explaining that he believed it was simply time for the Kentucky program to “hear another voice” at head coach.
“The last few weeks, we’ve come to realize that this program probably needs to hear another voice… and the fans need to hear another voice. And the fans need to hear another voice. We’ve loved it here, but we think it is time for us to step away. Step away completely from the program. I love coaching young people. This year’s team, I loved every day walking in. It’s what I do, it’s who I am.”
A message to #BBN: pic.twitter.com/TG344ipTfZ
— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) April 9, 2024
Calipari went on to thank the staff he has had a Kentucky over the course of his tenure, as well as the players and families of the players he has coached over the years at Kentucky.
It’s hard to argue with Calipari’s reasoning here. Kentucky indeed has looked a bit stagnant under Calipari for the last few seasons despite bringing in some great talent that will likely do great things at the professional level.
Now, he will get a chance to start something new at Arkansas. And it certainly should be interesting to see how he impacts their program in years to come.
