Kentucky fans shouldn’t feel ashamed of booing John Calipari on Saturday.
For 15 years, Calipari’s Wildcats resurrected a dying brand in Lexington. In the final two years of Tubby Smith’s tenure as head coach, the Cats suffered back-to-back second-round exits, a far cry from his 1998 championship push.
Billy Gillispie filled in following Smith’s departure, failing to get past the first round in his debut season, then didn’t qualify for the tournament in year two. After Gillispie’s firing, the Calipari era began in Lexington.
Calipari’s run from 2009 to 2018 was unprecedented.

Six SEC Tournament Championships, four Final Four appearances, an undefeated regular season in 2014-15 and an illustrious National Title in 2012. Year in and year out, Calipari assembled the highest caliber of athletes from around the country.
In fact, Calipari signed the No. 1 recruiting class in nine of his 15 seasons at Kentucky by at least one of the three major recruiting publications, ESPN, Rivals and 247Sports.
In 2019, Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart inked Calipari to a “lifetime” contract that was formally a 10-year extension with the option to fulfill an ambassador or special assistant role, if he wanted.
However, Cal’s Wildcats were unable to recapture a National Championship again. The furthest Kentucky would go in March Madness was the Elite Eight in 2019, resulting in a loss to the Auburn Tigers.
Over the next five years, the Wildcats were unable to surpass the second round of March Madness, including the 2020-21 season, where a 9-16 Kentucky team didn’t receive a postseason bid.
The SEC was growing into brute force. Kentucky couldn’t bully the league like it did in years past.
Although the SEC has been synonymous with college football, recently, Auburn, Tennessee, South Carolina and Alabama have emerged as legitimate basketball contenders.
Still, Kentucky continued to bring top-tier talent in on a yearly basis.
Calipari grew a reputation for setting the groundwork for future NBA draft picks. To his credit, he had done it successfully for years, coaching future MVP point guard Derrick Rose in Memphis, prior to joining Kentucky.
During that 2009 to 2018 stretch, NBA stars such as Anthony Davis, John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins and Devin Booker were all coached by Calipari at Kentucky.

However, in the final years of Calipari’s tenure, Big Blue Nation became stale with the “one-and-done” system that saw complete roster makeovers each year.
Rather, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame head coach seemingly overstayed that once virtuous title of being a devout recruiter. Calipari became an NBA hyperlink for recruits.
In January 2023, there were rumblings of Cal leaving Lexington for the Texas Longhorns after their head coach, Chris Beard, was fired.
As a result, Wildcat fans grew divided on the potential departure of their once-beloved coach. One fan was notoriously kicked out of a game for refusing to put away a sign that read “please go to Texas.”
This was somewhat the beginning of the end for Kentucky’s symbiotic relationship with Calipari.
Other Calipari-led antics continued to trouble Big Blue Nation; for example, forward Justin Edwards entered the 2023-24 season as a consensus five-star recruit, placing him No. 3 in the nation for the class of 2023. Despite Edwards’ promise coming into the season, he disappointed and was clearly getting outplayed by fellow freshman recruits Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham. Between Dillingham and Sheppard, the pair only made six starts while Edwards made 30 starts, second that year only behind fifth-year senior Antonio Reeves.
It seemed that Kentucky fans were skeptical if Calipari continued to start Edwards to appease Edwards’ and his camp despite underperforming. NBA scouts seemingly agreed with the Kentucky faithful. Sheppard went No. 3 to the Houston Rockets, and Dillingham went No. 8 to San Antonio before his pick was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Meanwhile, Edwards went undrafted and signed a two-way contract with his hometown Philadelphia 76ers.
In the past, Calipari crafted some eye-rolling moments, such as having his son, Brad Calipari, “walk on” to Kentucky’s team from 2016 until 2018 when Brad transferred to Detroit Mercy. It was an obvious act of hysterical nepotism that the zero-star recruit should see the court 27 times with the likes of De’Aaron Fox, Bam Adebayo and P.J. Washington for two seasons.
As recently as January 19, Calipari mentioned on the Dan Patrick Show that hiring his son was one of the primary factors to taking the Arkansas job. Brad was dropped from Vanderbilt as its on-court player development director following the firing of head coach Jerry Stackhouse in March 2024.

There was speculation that Kentucky was unwilling to oblige Calipari’s request to hire his son. Of course, this rumor got reignited with the now Razorbacks’ head coach’s comments on Patrick’s radio show.
In March 2024, Calipari and Barnhart joined BBN Tonight for an exclusive interview on a public address of the future of Wildcats basketball. Following a more than underwhelming defeat to Oakland in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, rumors were rampant about a potential transfer of power at head coach.
In retrospect, it looks like a publicity stunt.
What appeared to be a resolution is that Calipari would continue to coach Kentucky.
The longtime athletic director denied any rockiness between the two. Barnhart displayed himself as committed to keeping Cal in Lexington.
Of course, this did not happen.
Less than three weeks later, Calipari packed his bags west for Fayetteville, Arkansas. Although not entirely unexpected, Big Blue Nation was still shocked by the move.
The Wildcat fan base had to deal with a false alarm in November as football Head Coach Mark Stoops appeared to take a head coaching job with the Texas A&M Aggies. However, that didn’t end up happening as A&M opted for Mike Elko despite Stoops confirming that there were conversations from both parties.
This sudden change from Calipari’s typical royal blue inverted to cardinal red left Kentucky and Barnhart late to the head coaching search.
Again, more questions, more rumors and more angst circulated for Wildcats fans. As reports flooded in that an array of coaches such as Billy Donovan, Nate Oats, Dan Hurley, Jay Wright and many more names fueled Big Blue Nation’s angst.
Finally, after two long days, Pope was hired as the successor to Calipari.
It was obvious that the fanbase was desperate for a change. Pope’s first press conference filled Rupp Arena as Wildcats fans welcomed their former player and 1996 National Champion to Lexington.
The whirlwind of emotion that Calipari put Big Blue Nation through was remarkable. From the thrills of victory to the agony in defeat, it’s undeniable that Cal left a massive impact on the program at Kentucky, for better or worse.

Along the way, Calipari took former Cats Adou Thiero, D.J. Wagner and Zvonimir “Big Z” Ivisic with him to Fayetteville in addition to a pair of top-25 ex-commits Boogie Fland, Billy Richmond and Karter Knox.
Thus far, Arkansas has underperformed.
After entering the season ranked No. 16 by the AP Poll, the Hogs are 12-8 with a tumultuous 1-6 record against SEC opponents. For perspective, Kentucky was ranked No. 23 ahead of the season.
The Razorbacks’ skittish start is an uneven blend of humorous, ironic and unfortunate.
Pope’s Wildcats are off to a respectable 15-5 start given their tough non-conference opponents such as Clemson, Gonzaga and Ohio State, although a 4-3 SEC record isn’t particularly impressive.
Now, Arkansas stands as unranked, and some of the preseason spark has been dimmed for Calipari’s return because of its lackluster season.
On that same Dan Patrick Show interview, Calipari claimed the Kentucky fan base had nothing to do with the decision while acknowledging the turmoil that was continually rising due to underperformance.
How true that statement is, the basketball world may never know.
Many believe, instead, that Calipari had enough of the scrutiny and likely felt that he had lost a portion of Big Blue Nation as his supporters. It was time for Calipari to move on, regardless.
Calipari likely envisioned himself as an ambassador for Kentucky following his coaching days, much like fellow college basketball moguls Mike Krzyzewski with Duke, Roy Williams at North Carolina and Wright at Villanova. That didn’t happen, of course.
Furthermore, Cal’s choice to go to Arkansas was divisive knowing that the Wildcats will face his team annually. The Razorbacks and Kentucky rivalry has a new chapter and, for years to come, the mutual distaste will likely grow given their overlap and the heat of SEC basketball today.
Regardless, Coach Cal’s return will be boisterous at Rupp Arena as always.
Respectful • Feb 1, 2025 at 8:52 pm
Cal should NOT be boo’ed. Did a lot for lots of folks and kids, not just basketball. He has NEVER disrespected another coach or team. Show some damn respect UK!!!