Kentucky’s men’s basketball team is still reeling from its upset loss to Oakland in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. That loss was just the latest in a long line of NCAA Tournaments for the Wildcats, who have not made it past the NCAA Tournament’s second round since 2019.
But despite the consistent disappointments in recent years, coach John Calipari is coming back.
Mitch Barnhart, Kentucky’s Athletic Director, took to Twitter/X on Tuesday night to announce Calipari’s return.
As we normally do at the end of every season, Coach Calipari and I have had conversations about the direction of our men’s basketball program and I can confirm that he will return for his 16th season as our head coach.
— Mitch Barnhart (@UKMitchBarnhart) March 27, 2024
“As we normally do at the end of every season, Coach Calipari and I have had conversations about the direction of our men’s basketball program and I can confirm that he will return for his 16th season as our head coach,” Barnhart said.
The consensus was that this was not a great move for the Wildcats. It was also strongly noted that, while he announced Calipari’s return, Barnhart didn’t come off as particularly enthusiastic about it in his tweet.
I mean, after that emotional ringing endorsement how can we not be excited for next year….. https://t.co/WXQlraZ1nT
— Fake David Beckham (@FakeBecksKSR) March 27, 2024
Kentucky's boosters are just going to sit there and allow this to happen? https://t.co/Yuxk1dMeLY
— Matt Zemek (@MattZemek) March 27, 2024
“As we normally do at the end of every season” is doing a lot of heavy lifting here 😂. https://t.co/YbJ3zZfMrn
— Trilly Donovan (@trillydonovan) March 27, 2024
You can feel the enthusiasm as you read this. https://t.co/knwKWoYWuv
— Kyle Tucker (@KyleTucker_ATH) March 27, 2024
John Calipari will be back at Kentucky. The questions loom about staff and roster construction changes. https://t.co/kmA0LNeDik
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) March 27, 2024
No surprise here. Kentucky is handcuffed to Calipari by a terrible contract. https://t.co/rS5Ff9ayyL
— Pat Forde (@ByPatForde) March 27, 2024
John Caliponzi gets a stay of execution.
Recruiting trail probably gonna be tough since everyone knows it’s win in March or done https://t.co/W4BodhyDoX
— Jason McIntyre (@jasonrmcintyre) March 27, 2024
Calipari’s job security has been a hot topic since the loss to Oakland. ESPN’s College Gameday crew defended Calipari, dismissing the calls to fire him as “ridiculous” and “absurd.” Former Villanova coach Jay Wright also defended Calipari. Wright did note that Calipari’s philosophy of recruiting likely one-and-done players will need to change.
While Calipari heaped a lot of well-deserved praise on the Golden Grizzlies immediately after the loss, he was also quick to note that his “young” team underperformed — which has been a theme for the Wildcats during the latter part of his tenure at Kentucky.
A case could be made that the Wildcats had the best program in the country over Calipari’s first 10 years. In that time, Calipari led Kentucky to four Final Four appearances, which included a national championship in 2012 and a runner-up in 2014. The Wildcats were also on the brink of three other Final Fours, reaching the Elite Eight a trio of times.
Since then, it’s been a different story.
Kentucky likely would have been favored to make a deep tournament run in 2020, but it was canceled. After missing the tournament completely in 2021, the Wildcats have notched first-round losses in 2022 and 2014 and a second-round loss in 2023.
Calipari may be returning next season. But if the postseason struggles continues, the frustration and calls for his job will only get louder.
[Mitch Barnhart on Twitter/X]
