For John Calipari, 2022-23 did not yield stellar outcomes. Kentucky men’s basketball finished 22-12. UK did not win either the SEC regular-season or tournament championship, and it has won only one of each over the past six years. The Wildcats did not make it out of the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament for the third straight season.
In a program where the standard is excellence, that level is not being met.
When UK signed Calipari to a 10-year contract (after the 2018-19 season) that carries massive buyouts (would be around $40 million right now) for removing the coach without cause, the university essentially granted its head man the ability to dictate the length of his tenure. So reasonable people should expect Calipari, 64, to be Kentucky’s head man for the foreseeable future — or until he decides to leave.
