John Calipari choosing to leave Kentucky for Arkansas completed an extremely unusual trend that has followed Tre Mitchell throughout his college basketball career. Every single one of his coaches has either resigned or got fired after he left that program.
It dates back to 2019!
Mitchell, a former four-star recruit who played his high school ball in New England, committed to play for head coach Matt McCall at UMass over 30 other offers from UConn, Arkansas, Louisville, Tennessee, Seton Hall, Providence, Stanford, Yale, Creighton, Wake Forest and Indiana, among others. It was a huge splash for the Minutemen to get him to join teammate T.J. Weeks in Amherst.
However, their tenure (partially hindered by the pandemic) was an overwhelming failure. UMass went 22-24 with Mitchell on the roster. He hit the transfer portal shortly thereafter
As a result of the disappointing results, McCall was fired one year later.
Mitchell ultimately landed at Texas and spent just one year in Austin. Head coach Chris Beard was fired in the middle of the very next season.
After re-entering the transfer portal for a second time in three years, Mitchell ended up at West Virginia. He played one season with the Mountaineers and head coach Bob Huggins was fired shortly thereafter.
With a fifth season of eligibility at his disposal, Mitchell entered the portal for a third time and chose to finish out his career at Kentucky. The Wildcats were bounced in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament during his lone season in Lexington. Calipari is soon to be named the new head coach at Arkansas.
Mitchell played for four different teams during his five seasons of college basketball. All four teams made a change at head coach within 365 days after he left.
Coincidence? Probably… Unless…
The curse of Tre Mitchell is a real thing!