FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas employed John Calipari as males’s basketball coach on Wednesday, a day after the Corridor of Fame coach stepped down from the Kentucky program he led to the 2012 NCAA championship.
The 65-year-old Calipari signed a five-year contract with an annual base wage of $7 million via April 2029 with a most of two automated rollover years for NCAA Event appearances that may prolong the contract to 2031.
The deal features a $1 million signing bonus and options retention bonuses of $500,000 annually of the contract together with one-time bonuses for making the NCAA Event, reaching the second spherical, Candy 16, Closing 4 and successful a nationwide championship.
Kentucky had been paid Calipari $8.5 million yearly.
Calipari is the winningest energetic coach in males’s faculty basketball, with a profession file of 855-263 in stops at Massachusetts, Memphis and Kentucky. He has led his packages to 6 Closing Fours and three nationwide championship video games. He has gained quite a few awards, together with AP Coach of the Yr in 2015.
Arkansas vice chancellor and director of athletics Hunter Yurachek introduced Calipari’s hiring in a information launch on Wednesday. Yurachek famous Calipari’s repute as an elite recruiter and success within the Southeastern Convention as contributing components for the rent.
“As I visited with coach Calipari throughout this course of, he acknowledged the large alternative now we have on the College of Arkansas to draw and retain prime gamers and compete for championships,” Yurachek mentioned in an announcement.
An introductory information convention is scheduled for Wednesday night in Fayetteville.
Calipari replaces Eric Musselman, who left for the job at Southern California. Calipari inherits a program that went 16-17 final season after three consecutive NCAA Event appearances, together with the Candy 16 a 12 months in the past and the Elite Eight in 2021 and 2022.
Arkansas, like Kentucky, has a wealthy historical past. The Razorbacks have been to 6 Closing Fours, gained the nationwide title in 1994 and misplaced within the remaining in 1995.
Calipari introduced that he was stepping down as Kentucky coach on Tuesday, saying in a video that this system “wants to listen to one other voice.”
He left the Wildcats after going 410-123 in 15 years, together with 23-10 this previous season. However the previous few campaigns have been disappointing by Kentucky requirements with a 1-3 mark in its final three NCAA journeys, together with first-round losses to No. 14 seed Oakland final month and No. 15 seed Saint Peter’s two years in the past. The Wildcats have been top-three seeds each instances.
The latest NCAA loss set off quick calls to fireplace Calipari earlier than athletic director Mitch Barnhart said quickly after that Calipari would return subsequent season. Doing so would’ve triggered a buyout of greater than $33 million to dismiss him below the phrases of a 10-year, “lifetime” contract signed in 2019.
Cash is not a difficulty for Kentucky with Calipari’s announcement and Arkansas’ seismic transfer that at the beginning look makes the Razorbacks quick SEC contenders given the coach’s observe file. Kentucky gained six convention match championships and 6 common season titles, although it hasn’t gained the match title since 2017.
“It was my dream job,” Calipari mentioned within the video. “Anyone in our occupation seems on the College of Kentucky in basketball and mentioned, ‘that’s the bluest of blue.’ The previous couple of weeks we’ve come to comprehend that this program in all probability wants to listen to one other voice that the college as a complete has to have one other voice giving steerage about this program that they hear and the followers want to listen to.”
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