Longtime Kentucky head coach John Calipari is headed to become the new Arkansas head coach in a shocking turn of events. And on Tuesday, he took to social media to explain this decision to the Kentucky fanbase that has supported him all of these years.
Calipari’s 15-year tenure came to an end quite abruptly this past weekend. Prior to Sunday, there were very few if any rumors out there at all that Calipari was even interested in any other jobs. In fact, Calipari declared shortly after his team’s first-round exit in the NCAA Tournament that he was “committed” to turning around the Kentucky program.
This obviously begs the question. What changed so suddenly that Calipari decided to leave for the Arkansas job?
Well, Calipari explained his reasoning for the departure in a social media post on Tuesday, saying that he felt 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
On the surface, it’s hard to fault Calipari for feeling this way. Kentucky has struggled to find much postseason success as of late, making it out of the first round of the NCAA Tournament just once in the last five years. A new change of scenery could be good for both him and Kentucky.
