Vanderbilt basketball hires John Calipari's son, Brad, as assistant coach

Brad Calipari is headed back to the SEC, but he won’t be at Kentucky. The son of Wildcats head coach John Calipari has landed a position at Vanderbilt, according to Kyle Tucker of The Athletic.

Brad Calipari was previously working as the Director of Player Development at LIU Brooklyn, prior to being hired at Vanderbilt. He will work under Commodores head coach Jerry Stackhouse in Nashville.

Brad Calipari played for John Calipari for three seasons at Kentucky, prior to transferring to Detroit Mercy for his final two years of college basketball.

While at Kentucky, Brad Calipari appeared in 27 games. He transferred to Detroit Mercy ahead of the 2019-20 season.

Calipari appeared in 27 games, making six starts, during his first season at Detroit Mercy. He averaged 6.1 points and 1.1 rebounds per game, while shooting 38 percent from 3-point range. Calipari played in only six games for the Titans during his final year in 2020-21, before getting into coaching.

He started off his coaching career as a grad assistant for his dad at Kentucky for the 2021-22 season.

Brad Calipari is the second member of the Calipari family to be employed at Vanderbilt. According to Tyler Thompson of KSR, John Calipari’s daughter Erin is the associate director of the Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research and an associate professor at the university.

Jerry Stackhouse, Vanderbilt made another staff move this offseason

Brad Calipari isn’t the only new member of the Commodores basketball staff for the 2023-24 season.

In April it was announced that Anthony Wilkins, an experienced assistant coach who worked under Josh Pastner at Georgia Tech the last five years, was being hired by Vandy.

Here’s what Jerry Stackhouse said about hiring Wilkins:

“We are thrilled to add Anthony Wilkins to our Vanderbilt coaching staff. He is an experienced teacher, recruiter and mentor who has proven experience at the highest levels of college basketball. My relationship with Anthony dates back to my playing days and I’ve enjoyed watching his growth into an outstanding coach. We are excited to welcome Anthony to our program and believe in his ability to impact in all facets of our program.”

Wilkins also gave a small statement of his own upon the announcement of his hiring:

“Vanderbilt is a proud and accomplished community, whose values and integrity are the gold standard in academics and athletics. I’m thankful for the opportunity to support Coach Stackhouse. His leadership and demand of excellence sets an inspiring tone. I’m excited to contribute. Anchor Down.”