John Calipari has not yet been fired as the head basketball coach at the University of Kentucky. Yet is the key word.
The Basketball Hall of Famer’s seat is rather toasty after another disappointing loss in March Madness on Thursday night.
A 23-win three-seed lost its first round matchup to 14-seed Oakland in the First Round. Grizzlies star Jack Gohlke was the game’s leading scorer. He took 19 shots, all three-pointers, and made 10 with just one rebound. No assists. No steals. Nothing.
All Gohlke does is jack up triples. The Wildcats could not stop him.
The disappointing loss continued an unfortunate trend for Calipari and fans are absolutely disgusted.
Kentucky has not reached the Round of 32 since 2019. It has not reached the Final Four since 2015, as a one-seed, after losing the final as an eight-seed in 2014.
Although the Wildcats won a national championship in 2012, that was 12 years ago. What has Calipari done lately?
Lose big games.
To make it worse, the 65-year-old threw his players directly under the bus after the game. While he is right that they did not play under his potential, for a coach to use “they” in that scenario is a bad look.
Former Villanova head coach Jay Wright offered a great perspective on what has gone wrong in Lexington. The sport has changed, between NIL and the transfer portal, and Calipari has failed to adapt.
As a result, there are loud calls for him to be fired.
Should the Wildcats brass choose to move in that direction, it will cost a small fortune.
John Calipari’s buyout is crazy.
Kentucky would have to pay Calipari a total sum of $33,375,000 not to coach the team moving forward.
While that number is huge, college sports are a different beast. If the Wildcats want to raise $34M to fire one of the most renowned coaches in history, they will find a way.
But that may not be necessary!
A unique clause in Calipari’s contract might be the way to avoid a massive buyout. Maybe.
His 10-year, $86 million deal was unprecedented in both length and financial scope. It also includes a provision that would allow the head coach to transition into the role of “athletics director/university representative” starting with next season. John Calipari would still get paid $950,000 per year through the expiration of his original contract in 2029 but he would not be the head coach.
While it seems unlikely that Kentucky will put this clause into service, it is the only way out!