Kentucky Wildcats basketball coach John Calipari is a Hall of Famer and one of the winningest coaches in NCAA history. But following Kentucky’s stunning loss to the St. Peter’s Peacocks on Thursday, Calipari is facing a lot of criticism.
Any way you slice it, that loss is one of the biggest upsets in NCAA Tournament history. It was only the 10th 2 vs. 15 seed upset in men’s tournament history. In terms of program prestige, you’re not going to get a much wider disparity than Kentucky — whose eight National Championships are the second-most ever — and St. Peter’s — who prior to Thursday had never won an NCAA Tournament game.
Coach Cal makes 9.5 million a year FYI 😂 St. Peter’s coach makes $109k let that sink in!
— Coach Jason Brown (@TheRealCoach_JB) March 18, 2022
I’m not kidding you when I say Mooresville High School has a bigger gym than St. Peter’s U … and they just beat Kentucky and Coach Cal, in the NCAA tournament pic.twitter.com/tVJRUAfxGw
— Team Crisci Racing (@TeamCrisciRacin) March 18, 2022
Calipari came under heavy fire in the immediate aftermath of the stunning upset.
That is the worst loss of Coach Cal’s career by a mile. And that’s saying something.
— Damon Amendolara (@DamonAmendo) March 18, 2022
Coach Cal is just a PE teacher with a big budget
— Zach Schwartz (@zachzachzach) March 18, 2022
https://twitter.com/jontweetssports/status/1504647450740629504
Has any coach ever done less with more than John Calipari? Greatest recruiter ever and has 1 title
— Michael Luke (@ironmikeluke) March 18, 2022
I'm not a member of the "Cal can't coach" crowd, but Kentucky's gameplan has been a head-scratcher from the beginning
— David Gardner (@byDavidGardner) March 18, 2022
Will never ever understand why Coach Cal tries to milk clock when UK has no half-court offense.
— Chris Bailey🌪️🌩️ (@Kentuckyweather) March 18, 2022
This is 💯 on Coach Cal. #BBN
— Chris Bailey🌪️🌩️ (@Kentuckyweather) March 18, 2022
Imagine if Coach Cal spent as much time coaching as he does recruiting? Might have something. Honestly not sure what he even does during games.
— Tucker Martin (@jtuckermartin) March 18, 2022
Coach Cal said he had tweaked things after Tennessee blessed them by knocking them out of the SEC-T early 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
— Jon Reed (@Jon__Reed) March 18, 2022
Coach Cal trick yall man (westbrook voice)
— Chris Vernon (@ChrisVernonShow) March 18, 2022
Coach Cal fails his players yet again in the postseason.
Also Coach Cal: https://t.co/6wDEHdstor pic.twitter.com/nqrqURuaZk
— pablo escobarner (blue check) (@PabloEscoburner) March 18, 2022
Calipari’s record is 763-239, or 809-239 if vacated victories are counted. Given that, as well as the number of future NBA stars that he’s coached at UMass, Memphis, and now Kentucky, it would stand to reason that he’d have multiple National Championships.
But Kentucky’s victory in 2012 remains Calipari’s only championship. That team not only had an all-time star in Anthony Davis, but Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist were the first players from the same school to be taken No. 1 and No. 2 in the NBA Draft. That year’s draft featured had a total of four first-rounders and six Wildcats players drafted that year.
Otherwise, with the likes of Karl-Anthony Towns, Derrick Rose, John Wall, and Marcus Camby, just to name a few, Calipari has consistently fallen short.
Coach Cal hasn't sniffed a Final Four since 2015 and has a top 5 class every season. It may be time to have a dialogue
— MSU Chief of Propaganda (@OdellBretthamJr) March 18, 2022
Calipari followed arguably the worst season in UK basketball history with the worst first round loss in UK basketball history. The next time UK has a chance to win an NCAA tournament game it will have been almost 1,500 days since its last tournament win. Honest conversation time.
— Justin Rowland (@RowlandRIVALS) March 18, 2022
We doubt that Calipari is on the hot seat at Kentucky. But this probably isn’t the time to ask for a raise, either.
