Just this morning, Arkansas and John Calipari announced a deal which would finalize the Blue Blood legend as the new head coach. With this finalized, how the field of College Basketball will change is decided by three variables: how Kentucky will change, how the SEC will change, and How John Calipari will coach.
After taking a devastating loss to Oakland in the round of 64, John Calipari has been the face of controversy on whether he will be fired, leave outright, or stay at Kentucky. However, on the morning of April 8th, Calipari announced his new deal with the Arkansas Razorbacks, becoming their head coach, and while the details are yet to be announced, the world of Men's College Basketball is truly changed. In just 15 years at Kentucky, Calipari left a noticeable mark. Leaving with a record of 410-122 and one national championship, John Calipari didn't exactly coach 'winning' basketball. The main criticism which was made towards John for a long time is his devotion to getting players to the next level, making Kentucky look like a rest stop for top recruits.
Over his 14 seasons (not including this year), Calipari sent 47 players to the NBA. Of those 47, 35 were selected in the first round, and three of them were selected with the first overall pick (John Wall, Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Davis). With this talent you would suspect Kentucky to have won more than one National Championship, yet they only broke through once. This shocking fact extremely discredits John Calipari's coaching campaign at Kentucky.
Arkansas is definitely a different story. In the 2023-2024 season, the Razorbacks went 16-17, losing in the second round of the SEC tournament to the South Carolina Gamecocks and basically killing any tournament hopes right there. Sitting at the legitimate bottom of the SEC and rarely sending talent to the NBA draft, the Razorbacks under Calipari will have a lot of work to do.
With Kentucky losing their most notable coach of all time, how they will continue is the main question. Although Calipari didn't win much, he was one of if not the best basketball recruiter you will ever see, convincing plenty of talents to join the Wildcats. With him gone, the world and Kentucky fans will see whether it is Kentucky, or Calipari who gets the talent, and if they are truly a basketball school at all. Who they will hire next is a complete mystery, yet the world is wondering, "Is Kentucky a legit blue blood?"
With a top dog like Kentucky facing a massive change and SEC basketball slowly improving in quality, the Southeastern Conference will have to adapt to their new situation. Although the Tennessee Volunteers continue to thrive, losing in the Elite Eight this year to Purdue, they still will need to come up with some form of competition. With the loss Auburn took this year to Yale, and the loss South Carolina took as well, the SEC will need a lot of development as a whole to compete with the ACC or Big 12.
Now at Arkansas, John Calipari is expected to have around 5 years or more to build a college program, and whether he will or not is the main question. Calipari will no doubt be able to bring in talent, however, if this talent will be able to work together and win is all up to one main thing: Will Calipari coach to win? Although he experienced a disappointing series of tournament losses, Calipari's coaching ability is not horrid. With around a .750 win percentage and a notable stretch of rookie success while at UMass, taking them to the Final Four once and the tournament seven times. Whether or not Calipari can return to this level of success is completely a mystery, yet I am sure excited to see how this news will play out.
Tyler Rath, Vice President of InSZN Sports
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