Sweet 16: John Calipari earns massive raise for upset victory over Rick Pitino, St. John's

John Calipari finds himself in a familiar position at a new job. His first season at Arkansas has resulted in a Sweet Sixteen appearance after upsetting St. John’s Saturday afternoon. One of the NCAA Tournament’s most anticipated matchups thus far, the coaching battle of Calipari vs. Rick Pitino went to Cal.

A nice raise will be heading his way for the win too. Steve Berkowitz of the USA TODAY laid out the contract situation of Calipari, saying a $150,000 pay increase will kick in next season. The total is now up to $250,000 after earning something similar for beating Kansas in the Round of 32.

“No. 10 seed Arkansas defeats No. 2 St. John’s to reach NCAA men’s tournament Sweet 16,” Berkowitz said via X. “Razorbacks coach John Calipari’s contract includes no lump-sum bonuses — but today’s win adds $150,000 to automatic pay raise he will get, beginning next season. That raise is now at $250,000.”

As Berkowitz points out, there are no one-time payments to Calipari for postseason success. Any kind of additional money will be in the form of a raise for the following season. If Arkansas can continue this run in the NCAA Tournament, next year’s paychecks are only going to grow for Calipari.

Next up is a trip out West to San Francisco where Arkansas is just two wins away from a Final Four. Either Drake or Texas Tech will be the opponent, scheduled to play later on Saturday. Multiple teams are still alive on the other side of the bracket, most notably SEC foe Florida.

John Calipari, Arkansas overcome slow SEC start to Sweet Sixteen

Arkansas was all but dead early into SEC action. Calipari saw his team start 0-5 and then star point guard Boogie Fland went down with an injury. With how tough the conference was, many thought there would be no NCAA Tournament for the Razorbacks as a disappointing season was unfolding.

Something changed when Calipari made his return to Rupp Arena, though. Arkansas was able to take down Kentucky and find a new kind of confidence. The final 11 regular season games resulted in seven wins. Along with an SEC Tournament victory, the Hogs earned a comfortable at-large bid as a 10-seed.

Making a Sweet Sixteen would have been deemed unimaginable just a few weeks ago. Calipari certainly does not want the road to end there either, hoping to get Arkansas its first Final Four since 1995.