It’s official: John Calipari named Razorbacks’ head coach

The Arkansas basketball program announced Wednesday it has its man to lead the Razorbacks following Eric Musselman’s departure for USC on April 4.

Arkansas has finalized a deal with former Kentucky coach John Calipari to become the next coach of the Razorbacks. 

According to a release, Calipari has signed a five-year contract to lead the Razorbacks, with a salary beginning at $7 million per season. The contract runs through April 30, 2029, with a maximum of two automatic rollover years for NCAA Tournament appearances that would extend the contract to 2031.

The deal includes a $1 million signing bonus and features retention bonuses of $500,000 each year of the contract along with one-time bonuses for making the NCAA Tournament ($50,000), reaching the second round ($100,000), Sweet 16 ($250,000), Final Four ($350,000) and winning a national championship ($500,000).

“As I visited with Coach Calipari during this process, he acknowledged the tremendous opportunity we have at the University of Arkansas to attract and retain top players and compete for championships,” Arkansas athletics director Hunter Yurachek said in the release. “He understands the deep passion of the Razorback Nation and has experienced the tremendous home court advantage of Bud Walton Arena.

“I have no doubt that under Coach Calipari’s leadership and with the collective support of all those who love the Hogs, Razorback Basketball will continue to maintain its national prominence within college basketball.”

On Tuesday, Calipari announced his resignation at Kentucky in a video posted to his X account.

“It’s been a beautiful time for us,” Calipari said in part. “This is a dream job. It was my dream job. Anybody in our profession looks at the University of Kentucky in basketball and said, ‘That is the bluest of blue.’ The last few weeks, we’ve come to realize that this program probably needs to hear another voice, that the university as a whole has to have another voice giving guidance about this program that they hear, and the fans need to hear another voice.

“We’ve loved it here, but we think it’s time for us to step away, and step away completely from the program. There have been opportunities that have presented to us and we’re discussing them as a family. I love coaching. I love coaching young people.”

Kentucky athletics director Mitch Barnhart issued a statement to his X account shortly after Calipari’s farewell message.

“We’re appreciative of John Calipari leading our program for the last 15 years, adding to the legacy of championship success at Kentucky,” he wrote. “We’re grateful to John for his many contributions to the University, and our state, both on and off the court.

“We are working diligently to hire a proven, highly dedicated coach who embraces the importance of this program to our fans and the state of Kentucky.”

Calipari, 65, is a Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee who has orchestrated 6 Final Four runs, won the 2012 national championship and has had 58 players selected in the NBA Draft in an illustrious career. 

His 855 career wins rank among the top 10 of coaches in Division I men’s basketball history. 

Calipari spent the last 15 seasons at Kentucky, where he won 6 regular season SEC titles, 6 conference tournament titles, made 12 NCAA Tournament appearances and 3 Final Fours, and cut down the nets with the Wildcats in 2012.

After No. 3 seed Kentucky suffered an upset loss to No. 14 Oakland in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last month, Barnhart said Calipari would return as head coach despite significant unrest from program supporters.

The Wildcats have not made the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament since 2019. Kentucky, as a No. 2 seed, also lost to No. 15 St. Peter’s in the first round in 2022.

Prior to his run at Kentucky, Calipari spent a combined 17 seasons at UMass and Memphis and won more than 400 games. His teams made the NCAA Tournament 11 times, including six with the Tigers.

With the Minutemen, Calipari guided the program to five NCAA Tournaments and a run apiece to the Sweet 16, Elite Eight and Final Four. UMass’ 4-1 record in the 1996 NCAA Tournament was vacated because of star forward Marcus Camby’s impermissible contact with an agent.

In Calipari’s final five seasons, the Minutemen won as many Atlantic 10 regular season and conference tournament titles. They averaged 29.2 wins per season in that stretch.

Calipari won A10 coach of the year in three of his last four seasons at UMass.

Calipari accepted the head coaching job at Memphis in 2000 and led the Tigers to a 20-15 mark in Year 1. Memphis won at least 20 games in his first five seasons, but did not reach the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament until 2006.

That run kicked off a four-year stretch in which the Tigers received either a No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Memphis went to the Elite Eight in 2006 and 2007, and fell to Kansas in the 2008 national championship game to finish the season 38-2.

In August 2009, the NCAA committee on infractions announced the Tigers were to vacate the 38 wins and one loss from the previous season because of NCAA rules violations. Calipari then became the first head coach to have Final Four appearances vacated at two different schools.

With the Tigers, Calipari was named Conference USA coach of the year three times. Memphis won four CUSA Tournament titles and five CUSA regular-season championships. 

Calipari took the head coaching job at Kentucky in 2009 shortly after Memphis’ 102-91 loss to Mike Anderson and Missouri in the Sweet 16.

Before accepting the UMass job, Calipari served as an assistant coach at Kansas (1982-85) under Larry Brown and Pittsburgh (1985-88). He won 72 games in two-plus seasons as head coach of the NBA’s New Jersey Nets in the late 1990s.