Wow…. what a Woj bomb in the middle of the night. I was half drifting asleep when I thought let me check my phone one more time before bed and saw this news. I immediately couldn’t sleep as I had all my fellow Kentucky fan friends calling me asking what I thought. This is one of the biggest coaching news, heck just news in general for college basketball in a while. A lifetime contract coach leaving for a conference rival after the AD assured everyone he was coming back for another year. After the disappointing loss again to Oakland I jumped on the fire Cal bandwagon. I was telling everyone he’s gotta go, but its weird, now that he’s gone, I don’t have this feeling of joy or relief. Its just…. weird
I have been a Kentucky Fan my whole life, and for most of my life, my coach has been Calipari. So, while this is the result I wanted I find my self second guessing. I have this feeling of nostalgia and that the good ol’ days are over. Calipari had a crazy prime his first decade at UK, first in Wins, Tournament wins, Final 4s, Top 10 recruits, Lottery Picks, etc. Every year was exciting because you knew we were getting several 5 star players who were gonna be pros. However, just as good as the first 10 years were, the last 5 have been just as bad. 2 first round losses to huge underdogs, only 2 sweet sixteens, the whole 2021 season. We are spoiled as fans, the problem with becoming a powerhouse championship or bust program is that most years are gonna be a bust.This is not an easy job. You do kinda need to be a rockstar to handle it, and while Calipari struggled with the X’s and O’s, he was no doubt a rockstar. He should go in the Hall of Fame as the greatest recruiter of all time. His recruiting could only mask his subpar coaching for so long.
COVID, transfer portal, and NIL have changed College basketball. Before our 18 year old, freak athlete, NBA talented freshman could beat everyone else’s average 21 year old, D1 college players. Now our same 18 year old, freak athlete, NBA talented freshman can’t beat the 24 year old, grown man, who has been playing college basketball for 7 years. Its almost poetic, the guy who was so ahead of the game when he started his “one and done” crusade in 2009 has now watched the game pass him by. COVID, transfer portal, and NIL have changed everything. His act of caring more about the players getting NBA contracts than winning comments have fallen on deaf years. Its so cool to see UK players dominate the NBA but that shouldn’t be at the cost of winning. I was always worried about Calipari leaving because I knew that meant so was our unbelievable recruiting classes, but after talking with my friends, they have put me at ease. This is still Kentucky. We have the biggest arena in college hoops, biggest/diehard fans, unlimited money… We will be okay. Fans are sick of the losing and I’m guessing the donors in Lexington are ready to pull out the pocketbooks to help keep UK on top.
While yes it is sad the Cal era is over, all we can do is reflect and hope the La Familia, NBA Alums still show their support. This is an exciting time for UK fans and this coaching search is gonna be star studded. My top 3 picks would be Pitino, Dan Hurley, or Jay Wright. All I can say is I wish you the best Cal, but I cant wait to play Arkansas at Rupp soon.