Mitch Barnhart is 'grateful' for John Calipari as Kentucky's coaching search officially begins

The end of an era finally arrived on Tuesday afternoon after some long waiting. On Sunday night, word leaked out that John Calipari had agreed to terms with Arkansas to become their next head men’s basketball coach. However, we were all waiting for that to become official. That finally arrived when Calipari issued a resignation statement saying bye to the Big Blue Nation.

Kentucky Director of Athletics Mitch Barnhart immediately issued a statement of his own after the announcement from Calipari.

“We’re appreciative of John Calipari leading our program for the last 15 years, adding to the legacy of championship success at Kentucky,” Mitch Barnhart posted on X. “We’re grateful to John for his many contributions to the University, and our state, both on and off the court.”

“We are working diligently to hire a proven, highly dedicated coach who embraces the importance of this program to our fans and the state of Kentucky.”

Now we await word from Arkansas to make the hiring official. In Lexington, a formal coaching search can now officially begin. KSR’s Matt Jones has reported that UConn head coach Danny Hurley, Chicago Bulls head coach Billy Donovan, and Baylor head coach Scott Drew will be contacted by Kentucky. Those discussions can now take place.

Xavier head coach Sean Miller, Marquette head coach Shaka Smart, and Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard are secondary options, according to Jones.

We should expect the search to move quickly with the transfer portal off and running in college basketball. A new era has officially begun in the Bluegrass.

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