ESPN analyst calls out Mitch Barnhart over media call out for John Calipari vs Mark Stoops feud
The war of words between Kentucky coaches John Calipari and Mark Stoops was one that has divided up the entirety of Big Blue Nation and has seemingly caused some drama behind the scenes. The Big Blue Civil War is a story worth national headlines – and ESPN college basketball analyst Seth Davis weighed in on the situation.
Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart addressed the media Saturday afternoon where he addressed the situation, saying the media is the root of the problem by blowing this situation out of proportions – even though Stoops and a number of Kentucky basketball players responded to Calipari’s comments already.
“This is bunk,” Davis tweeted. “Cal was quoted warmly and accurately.”
Davis isn’t wrong. The quote Davis is referring to is Calipari’s from last Thursday while addressing the media in the Bahamas. Calipari went on a tangent about how his program needs a new basketball facility, eventually calling UK a “basketball school” and that if Alabama football wanted something, their athletic director would make it happen.
Now, however, Barnhart has since said basketball facility renovations are not on the agenda in the immediate future.
Barnhart then got teary-eyed during the presser about the situation, detailing a long story about his arrival at Kentucky and how it almost didn’t work out. Now, he has the only program in the SEC where its football and basketball teams have tenured coaches of 10-plus years.
There was never any indication beforehand that Calipari and Stoops had any bad-blood between one another, but Stoops certainly took this to heart – and rightfully so. He took over a program that was one of the worst in the nation, and built them into national relevancy and is set to become UK football’s all-time winningest coach in 2022 with two more victories.
Meanwhile, Calipari’s Wildcats lost to a 15-seed in the first round of the NCAA Tournament this past year. In fact, Kentucky hasn’t won a tournament game since 2018 when they went to the Elite Eight. In that time, Stoops has begun changing the culture within the local fanbase and the support for football is now through the roof.
At the end of the day, Kentucky basketball is one of the most storied programs in collegiate athletics history – Kentucky football is not. That doesn’t mean UK is a football or basketball school, but right now, Stoops has created more buzz around town about the football team than ever before, and with the season starting in less than a month, the less distractions, the better.