John Calipari addresses emotion surrounding Kentucky return

In his time with the Kentucky Wildcats, John Calipari solidified his status as one of the best coaches in college basketball. However, everything does come to an end eventually and after 15 seasons with the program and some frustrating results in recent years, he chose to leave for the Arkansas Razorbacks.

The two teams, both being in the SEC, means that Calipari was always bound to play Kentucky again. Now, the time has come for Arkansas to travel to Lexington to take on the Wildcats in a game that Calipari knows will be emotional.

“There’ll be some emotion walking into that building,” John Calipari said. “Really being in town. Probably get together with some of my friends.”

The end of John Calipari’s tenure at Kentucky was an emotional one. After failing to get past the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament since 2019, there was a growing frustration within the fanbase about the results he was producing. That’s despite previously taking the program to four Final Four appearances and a national championship. He finished his time there with a record of 410-123. When Arkansas offered him a chance to hit the reset button, Calipari took it.

To replace him, Kentucky turned to Mark Pope, who has quickly become a fan favorite among Wildcats fans. That’s largely because of the success he’s had early on, leading Kentucky to a 14-5 record overall and a 3-3 record in the highly competitive SEC.

“They’re playing good,” Calipari said. “We’ve got our hands full and let’s see what happens. They’re a good team. Mark [Pope] is doing a good job with them. So, we’ve just got to keep going. Keep fighting. Keep figuring this out. What does this team look like? What do we have to play like?”

It has been a bit of a struggle at times for John Calipari since getting to Arkansas. The Razorbacks started strong in non-conference play, but have gone just 1-6 in SEC play and now find themselves toward the bottom of the conference standings at the end of January.

For Kentucky’s part, the Wildcats have a major test on Tuesday, January 28th, against the Tennessee Volunteers before they can turn their attention to Arkansas. The Razorbacks on the other hand don’t have any weeknight games, giving them a bit of a chance to hit the reset button.