Back in 2009, legendary basketball coach John Calipari arrived in the ‘Blue Grass State’, Kentucky, as a hero. On February 1, there is no doubt he will return as a villain, public enemy No. 1. Calipari’s return date to Lexington is set.
The SEC college basketball schedule was released to the public on Tuesday, and among the featured games was the Arkansas–Kentucky royal rumble scheduled for February 1, 2025 in Lexington at Rupp Arena. It is appointment viewing. That will be Calipari’s first time back at Rupp Arena since his departure, and the former Wildcats’ head coach will lead his new team, the Arkansas Razorbacks, on that day.
Embed from Getty ImagesCalipari left Kentucky this offseason after 15 years at the helm of the program.
His tenure in Lexington was a major success, even though there were a few downs along the way. Under his watch, the Wildcats captured six SEC regular season titles, six conference championships, reached the NCAA tournament 12 times, the Final Four four times and won a national championship with NBA superstar Anthony Davis.
However, his time and message had seemingly grown tired and stale. Kentucky has not gotten past the first weekend of the NCAA tournament since the 2018-19 season and has not reached a Final Four since the 2014-15 campaign. Calipari chose not to wrap his arms around the transfer portal, instead going with young,
inexperienced rosters, filled with one-and-done players. The loyal fanbase grew frustrated and it turned into flat out anger.
So, Calipari chose to walk away from a blue blood university with a rich basketball tradition, taking an Arkansas job that will come with an abundance of resources but will be less stressful and not carry the same weight of expectation he experienced at Kentucky.
“I’m not going to try to get spiritual,” he told Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports in May. “Something nudges you and you don’t know what it is. But I’ve been there [at Kentucky] 15 years. Maybe it’s, ‘You’ve done what I needed you to do there for the kids, for the state. Now I need you to do something down there [at Arkansas].'”
His knack for the recruiting process has already paid major dividends and impacted the Razorbacks, as Calipari secured the commitment of 5-star point guard Darius Acuff Jr., the No. 4 overall recruit in the Class of 2025. For the 2024 season, he had to get out of his comfort zone and rely on the transfer portal to fill out Arkansas’ roster, notably bringing Zvonimir Ivišić, Adou Thiero and D.J. Wagner with him from Kentucky.
Like Calipari, they will return to Rupp Arena on February 1. They can anticipate boos throughout and it should be quite the environment.
“Kentucky is the bluest of blue,” Calipari said after he was introduced in Fayetteville in April. “There’s only a few schools like that, and I hate to tell you … Arkansas is one of them.”
