John Calipari states some Kentucky fans were happy with his decision to leave

No coach has undergone more scrutiny this offseason than John Calipari. From losing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to announcing he would return for another season, and then eventually leaving Kentucky for the Arkansas job. Big Blue Nation has voiced their opinion on Calipari and not too many are thrilled with him.

Calipari looks at it from a different view, though. He believes some of the fans were happy to see him leave Lexington. After the Oakland loss, there were outcries for Calipari to be fired anyway. A part of the Kentucky fan base might be happy a new era is upon the program.

“I think some people were happy,” Calipari said via CBS Sports. “[Some were saying], ‘We’ve had this guy 15 years and we’ve only won 500 games.’ [Actually 410] We only won one national title and four Final Fours and eight Elite Eights? What the hell is going on here?'”

Of course, there was some sarcasm at the end of Calipari’s comment but in the beginning of his comments, he was telling the truth.

You cannot deny the success Calipari had while at Kentucky. His lone national championship came in 2012 with a stacked roster headlined by Anthony Davis. Plenty of other Wildcat legends performed well during their time with deep NCAA Tournament runs.

Add in recruiting the country’s best high school prospects only to see them continually be selected in the NBA Draft lottery, there was not much to complain about.

However, the last few seasons were rough for Calipari. The 2020-2021 campaign resulted in Kentucky’s first losing record since 1989, finishing 9-16 overall and 8-9 against SEC opponents.

Getting back in the NCAA Tournament for the next three years did not help as Calipari crashed out in the first round twice and another in the second round. Those kinds of results do not play at Kentucky, no matter the prior history.

If/when Calipari returns to Rupp Arena with Arkansas, it will be one of the most hostile environments in all of college basketball. Big Blue Nation will likely not give him the warmest of welcomes and boos will be coming from courtside to the top of the arena.

Some extra juice will be squeezed into that game — from both sides. Kentucky will be hoping to prove they are better off without Calipari, while the new Arkansas head coach wants to prove the people who wanted him out wrong.