Even if John Calipari’s divorce with Kentucky seemed inevitable, school fans still did not forgive him to jump the ship in Arkansas.
The former head coach of the Wildcats made his long-awaited return to Rupp Arena as an adversary on Saturday, with few people expecting a warm reception. Rick Pitino, of everyone, hoped that Kentucky fans would recognize Calipari’s contributions to the program, but it was not a surprise what happened next.
While Calipari walked on the ground, Big Blue Nation struck him with a wave of huts.
And when Calipari was presented as the Razorbacks head coach? Even stronger huts.
Calipari, however, had the last laugh with an upset victory of 89-79 for Arkansas. The former Kentucky player, Adou Thiero, paved the way with 21 points and eight rebounds, while Dj Wagner, another former Wildcat who followed Calipari out of Kentucky, collected 17 points and eight assists.
The coach did not approve his team who recovers the crowd of Kentucky.
Calipari resulted in Kentucky from 2009 to last season, winning a national championship, four Final Fours, six dry tournament and regular season titles and a prize for the year’s coach Naismith College. In the process, he changed both the program and the sport by building a One-And-Done pipeline in the NBA which produced stars like Anthony Davis, John Wall, Demarcus Cousins, Karl-Anthony Towns, Devin Booker, Jamal Murray, from ‘Aaron Fox, Bam Adebayo, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Tyler Herro and Tyrese Maxey.
In total, Calipari produced three no. 1 overall choice, 25 choice of lottery, 37 first round choice and 50 choice of NBA recovery in 15 years.
This mandate, however, gradually passed in the last years of Calipari in Lexington, with a single victory of the NCAA tournament after 2019. It was largely supposed that the 2023-24 season could be its last with Kentucky , and he chose not to wait to wait around to see if he would get the ax.
His first season with the Arkansas was a success similar to his recent years in Kentucky, even with the victory on Saturday. The Razorbacks have a file of 13-8 and a 2-6 record in Play dry, while Kentucky n ° 12 is at 15-6 and 4-3.
