John Calipari addresses his future at Kentucky

There is some frustration within the Kentucky fan base about the way the Wildcats have played in recent years, particularly in the NCAA Tournament.

Kentucky hasn’t reached the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament since 2019 and hasn’t been to a Final 4 since 2015.

There’s no doubt that Kentucky is one of the bluebloods in college basketball, and those numbers aren’t good enough at a program like Kentucky.

The recent struggles, at least by Kentucky standards, have led to some speculation that head coach John Calipari could leave Kentucky in the not-too-distant future.

Calipari was asked about a number of topics, including his future at Kentucky, during a recent interview with John Fanta of Fox Sports.

“I’ve got six years on a contract. Will I stay longer? I don’t know. But I want to be here. It hasn’t changed,” Calipari said.

As Calipari referenced, his current contract runs through the 2028-29 season and pays him an average of $8.6 million per year.

Landing talent hasn’t been an issue for Kentucky, but transitioning recruiting rankings into success hasn’t gone as smoothly.

Kentucky has signed the No. 1 recruiting class in the country in three of the past four years, including the 2023 cycle.

“The best players still want to come here. I don’t blame those who don’t want to come here, I don’t make it personal. I’m at Kentucky, which is an unbelievable stage,” Calipari said. “Every year we are here, we have a shot to win a national title. I look at this run and say, ‘let’s do some special things.’ The families, my appreciation for them is they trust me with their child. If it was the drudgery of this, I wouldn’t be doing this.”

While Kentucky hasn’t been elite on the court in recent years, it is still a national program that gets every opponent’s best shot.

Calipari said that he is hopeful his program will be better at embracing that challenge moving forward.

“You’ve got to know every arena we go in is sold out. Why? Because they’ve got a chance to beat Kentucky today,” Calipari said. “My comment to my team: ‘Let’s ruin their weekend.'”

John Calipari says 2023 recruits’ success in high school stands out to him

As mentioned, one area that John Calipari has consistently excelled in is on the recruiting trail.

His haul in the 2023 class is no different with five commitments from top-notch prospects. Even so, he says this group takes it to another level considering how much they impacted winning at the high school level and how connected they already are with one another.

“This class is important and critical to what we are trying to do here at Kentucky,” Calipari said in a FOX Sports interview with John Fanta. “What makes me love this group is that they were all playing for state championships in high school. They all come from winning.”

“And here’s another thing: they all like each other. They’re in a group text together. Before they get here, they like each other. That’s big for where we want to go,” said Calipari. “By genuinely caring about one another, there’s a nice connection in place that feels different.”