John Calipari named to Conference USA Hall of Fame

John Calipari is already a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame; today, Conference USA announced he will also be a member of their Hall of Fame. Calipari is among the five inductees in the 2022 Conference USA Hall of Fame class for his tenure at Memphis from 2000-09. Calipari led the Tigers to the 2008 NCAA title game, including 38 wins that season. As a result, he earned his second Naismith National Coach of the Year honor, becoming only the second coach to earn the honor multiple times since its inception in 1987. Calipari led the Tigers to nine straight 20-win campaigns and nine consecutive postseason appearances, the only Memphis coach to do that. He posted 252 on-court wins — 28.0 wins per season — as the Tigers’ head coach, making him the winningest coach in school history

“Ellen and I relish our time in Conference USA and this honor does not happen without the support of the tremendous staff and players we had, as well as the support of a great athletic director like R.C. Johnson,” John Calipari said in a press release. “Thank you Conference USA and all of my staff and players for your role in this.”

The Conference USA Hall of Fame was created in 2019 in conjunction with the league’s 25th anniversary. The 2022 class is the fourth to be inducted. Joining Calipari in the class are Kelly-Anne Billingy (volleyball, Marshall), Anthony Rotich (cross country/track and field, UTEP), Tamika Whitmore (women’s basketball, Memphis), and Joan Joyce (softball, FAU).

Calipari discussed the honor further in a video released by the league this morning.

Kudos to Calipari on the honor, which only makes it more ridiculous that Memphis had to pull the plug on its own tribute ahead of his Naismith Hall of Fame induction in 2015 because fans are still big mad.