John Calipari: Mark Pope was the right guy for Kentucky job

On Saturday, John Calipari made his triumphant return to Rupp Arena, defeating Kentucky 89-79. It was a painful loss for many Kentucky fans, who were hungry to exact revenge on Calipari for leaving the program after initially saying he was returning for the 2024-25 season.

While Calipari could’ve easily gloated about the victory, he remained humble. After the game, Calipari praised first-year Kentucky head coach Mark Pope and the job he is doing.

“What Kentucky is doing, and how they’re doing it — Mark Pope is doing a great job. Not a good job. A great job,” Calipari said. “… Good team. Good shooting. Big kids are playing well. Mark’s done great. He was the right guy for the job.”

“Whether it was Kentucky, we just needed to win, so I can keep coaching. The hardest thing is you’re coaching them, you’re teaching, you’re bringing them together, they’ve got to feel some success to know that we’re on the right path.”

Arkansas certainly felt success on Saturday evening. In the win, the Razorbacks shot 55.2% from the field and 52% from beyond the arc. For reference, Arkansas is shooting just 33.5% from 3-point range this season.

More impressive, Arkansas was without star point guard Boogie Fland, who suffered a season-ending hand injury in January. It was a must-have win for the Razorbacks after beginning conference play with a 1-6 record.

While Arkansas came out on top against Kentucky on Saturday, the Wildcats are having a better season thus far. Kentucky is 15-6 and 4-4 in conference play.

Mark Pope has particularly done an excellent job when leading Kentucky against elite competition. The Wildcats are 6-1 this season against Top-15 opponents. However, there’s growing concern about Kentucky’s ability to handle the teams they are expected to defeat.

Kentucky is 1-5 against unranked Power Four foes this season, with its only win in the category coming against in-state rival Louisville. Although John Calipari was admittedly happy to defeat his former program, he was simply excited to get a win.

“We needed to win a game. So it didn’t matter who it was against,” Calipari said. “I made it clear, it was a privilege and an honor to coach here. We had 15 unbelievable years. Great run. Support, the fans supported us. The families that entrusted us with their sons.

“I got 190 texts by the time the game ended. And I’m guessing a bunch of them are former players, not that they’re ever going to root against Kentucky, they went to school here. But they also have a relationship with me.”