What’s next for John Calipari? He might have answers on his future at Kentucky tonight.
With his future as the head coach at Kentucky seemingly up in the air, John Calipari is still scheduled to appear on his weekly radio show Monday night, and he could shed some light on what comes next regarding his status with the program.
Calipari is still planning to be on the air with UK broadcaster Tom Leach for what will be the final coach’s show of the 2023-24 season, the Herald-Leader has confirmed. The show is scheduled to air at 6 p.m. on WLAP 630-AM in Lexington, with the broadcast also available through UKAthletics.com and across the UK Sports Network’s radio affiliates.
These will be Calipari’s first public comments since Kentucky lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to 14-seeded Oakland on Thursday night, ending the Wildcats’ season with an upset and prolonging the program’s postseason drought.
UK has not advanced beyond the first week of the NCAA Tournament since 2019, and the Cats have won only one March Madness game in that span.
Calipari typically takes calls from fans during his coach’s show, but it’s unlikely that will happen Monday night. The coach is expected to appear on the show via telephone — not in person — which is not uncommon for the show that follows UK’s season-ending losses.
This will be the final show of the season for Calipari, who typically uses this stage to look ahead to the following season, sometimes speculating on the decisions of his current players as they weigh their own futures. Reed Sheppard, D.J. Wagner, Adou Thiero and Zvonimir Ivisic are among the players who could realistically return to play for the Wildcats next season.
Obviously, it’s Calipari’s future that will be everyone’s focus on this particular episode.
The loss to Oakland marked the second time in three years that Calipari’s team had been defeated by a heavy underdog in the opening round of the tournament. Kentucky lost to 15-seeded Saint Peter’s in the round of 64 two years ago, the biggest postseason upset in program history.
The recent run of NCAA Tournament futility has led to widespread calls for the university to move on from Calipari, who turned 65 years old last month and has been the head coach of the Wildcats for the past 15 seasons. He still has five years and $44.5 million remaining on his contract.
UK president Eli Capilouto and athletics director Mitch Barnhart agreed to that deal in 2019, following the Wildcats’ run to the Elite Eight in that year’s tournament. At that point, Calipari had led the Cats to seven Elite Eights and four Final Four appearances in 10 years on the job, along with the 2012 national title.
Kentucky has not been in the Final Four since 2015, however, and this will now be the second-longest drought in program history without a trip to the biggest stage in college basketball.
Following the loss to Oakland, Calipari spoke of the future as if he fully expected to be back at Kentucky next season. If UK wanted to move on, it would owe the head coach more than $33 million over the next five years, per the terms of his contract.
Barnhart has not made a public statement on Calipari’s status as the head coach at Kentucky since Thursday night’s loss to Oakland. The longtime UK athletics director did meet with the Wildcats’ coach in the UK locker room in Pittsburgh after that game, but the two typically sit down for a more formal meeting following the season.
Barnhart declined the Herald-Leader’s request for comment on Calipari’s situation over the weekend.
This story was originally published March 25, 2024 at 12:25 PM.
