The remarkable sight of John Calipari as Head Hog
On January 18, 2020, the No. 10 Kentucky Wildcats entered Bud Walton Arena for a highly-touted matchup against the Arkansas Razorbacks, who were led by first-year head coach Eric Musselman, who is now at USC.
Fueled by a raucous environment, the unranked Razorbacks were holding their own against the mighty blue bloods. With 8:19 remaining in the game and the score tied at 44-44, the iconic moment in question came to fruition. Arguing for a flop call, Kentucky head coach John Calipari got into hot water with the officials and received a technical foul.
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“He may get thrown out,” legendary commentator Dick Vitale exclaimed. “John wants out! Calm down, John!”
Calipari kept nagging away and was quickly ejected from the game. The crowd exploded. Arkansas baseball head coach Dave Van Horn waved goodbye, and eventual SEC Player of the Year Immanuel Quickley had to plug his ears from the noise. Students were hanging over the railing of the exit tunnel, screaming obscenities at Calipari as he walked off the court.
It was a madhouse.
I have lived in Fayetteville for my entire life, and that is by far the loudest I have ever heard Bud Walton Arena get. All of that energy was fueled by one man: John Calipari.
Fast forward to 2024, and Coach Cal is on his way to Fayetteville as the next Head Hog. If you traveled back in time and told Arkansas fans about this four years ago, they would have laughed in your face and called you insane.
Social media reacts to Arkansas hiring John Calipari
But it turns out that a total solar eclipse isn’t the only massive crossover that happened this week.
The "enemies to lovers" trope: college basketball edition
News broke at the local level on Sunday night that Calipari was indeed leaving for Arkansas. Shortly before midnight, the story was confirmed by national reporters – and the college basketball world was turned on its head.
The man that Arkansas fans once booed and despised will now be leading the Razorbacks for the foreseeable future.
It turns out that most of that vitriol was one-sided, as Calipari has "held the job in Arkansas in high regard for years", according to Jon Rothstein. Looking back on a video of Coach Cal playing along with a Hog Call while dining in Fayetteville a couple years ago, it seems that it holds true.
At the end of the day, all of the hatred of Calipari by Arkansas fans really just boiled down to the fact that he coached one of the Hogs’ biggest rivals – and the showdowns between the Wildcats and the Razorbacks were almost always appointment viewing (Michael Qualls, take it away).
There was always mutual respect between Calipari and the Arkansas fanbase, as evident by the overwhelming outpouring of support and excitement from Razorback fans on social media.
Bearing firsthand witness to the passion of Razorback fans and also being around long enough to have been coaching during Arkansas’ dominant run in the 1990s, Calipari knows plenty about the prestige and history that Bud Walton Arena holds.
For Arkansas fans, it is simply impossible to not admire his vast list of achievements throughout his career — 16 regular season titles, 15 conference tournament trophies, six Final Fours and a national championship, just to name a few. Phew.
Even with Kentucky’s recent shortcomings in March, Calipari is a home run hire for Arkansas. He will put Arkansas’ brand at the very top of the college basketball world, and will bring blue-chip recruits to Fayetteville on an annual basis.
While his roster-building model needs some slight tweaks in the era of the transfer portal, Calipari’s recruiting prowess and a massive NIL war chest will ensure that Arkansas has a roster that can compete with anybody in the country.
READ: Calipari reportedly to receive $5 million-plus in NIL funds at Arkansas
A fresh start for a legend
Some might argue that Calipari is a once-great head coach that is past his prime, as they cit his one NCAA Tournament win in the last five years. There’s a reason that many Kentucky boosters were ready to run him out of town.
But maybe a fresh start is just what Calipari needs. The move benefits all parties involved, as Kentucky gets to hire a new coach without having to pay a massive buyout to fire its current one. Calipari gets to reset the shot clock on his job status with a new fanbase and great financial support, and Arkansas gets a legendary head coach to lead the program.
After a chaotic coaching search that brought about every name imaginable – from Chris Beard and Jerome Tang to Chris Jans and Darrell Walker – Razorback fans will look past the recent shortcomings in Calipari’s career and view this as a home run hire.
It’s easy to question the motives behind this move for an older coach who has already won everything there is to win in college basketball. But looking at the situation from a wider lens, it’s clear that Calipari believes he still has a lot left in the tank.
He could have stayed put in Lexington, waited to be fired and rode off into the sunset with millions of dollars in buyout money. Instead, he got ahead of the curve and decided to take on a new challenge.
With the temperature of his seat at Kentucky heating up, Calipari said in a postseason interview with Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart that he was “still loving it, enjoying it…we’re gonna get after it and have a really good team."
The comments were eerily reminiscent of former Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman’s comments after what ended up being his last game as the head coach of the Razorbacks, when he said that he was “more motivated than ever” and “ready to work”.
Two of the best head coaches in the country, who will both be hungry for success after recent failures and unlikely moves to different schools. It’s hard to wrap your head around this shocking turn of events after that tension-packed showdown in 2020, but here we are.
Calipari, now 65 years old with much more salt than pepper in his slicked-back hair, will look to revitalize his career at another historic power – this time with red blood instead of blue.
Whatever happens over the next few years, John Calipari at Arkansas will be a box-office spectacle every time the Hogs take the floor.
"I have no doubt that under Coach Calipari’s leadership and with the collective support of all those who love the Hogs, Razorback Basketball will continue to maintain its national prominence within college basketball," Arkansas Athletics Director Hunter Yurachek said Wednesday.