He wants to leave ….Kentucky head coach….
This week, the John Calipari era with the Kentucky Wildcats officially ended with Calipari’s resignation video on Tuesday and then being named as the head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks yesterday.
It’s still an odd sight, and this isn’t the way I thought the John Calipari era at Kentucky would end, but nonetheless, we are here.
Like many in the Big Blue Nation, after the loss to Oakland in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, I have been of the opinion that it would be best for all parties if Kentucky and Calipari separated.
That was a hard fact to come to because, at 29 years old, my teenage years and early 20s were filled with so many great memories from the Calipari era.
I remember being in the 8th grade when the news broke that John Calipari was going to be the next head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats following a lackluster end to the Tubby Smith era and two awful years with Billy G at the lead.
Calipari made Kentucky cool. He brought in John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, and Eric Bledsoe. That 2009-2010 season was one of the most fun seasons I’ve ever had as a Kentucky fan. We were doing the John Wall dance in the halls of my high school, DeMarcus Cousins was trash-talking teams while dominating in the paint, and Kentucky really felt like the “gold standard.”
It was a Final Four the next season, and it was the first one I can remember as a fan, being born in 1994. I have awesome memories of being with my brother in a restaurant watching the Ohio State game in the Sweet 16 when Brandon Knight hit the game-winner.
Then a National Championship, which will always be special. I think all of us will remember where we were when Kentucky won #8.
Aaron Harrison’s playoff run, the 2014-2015 team, the Fox-Monk-Bam group, Oscar Tshiebwe’s Player of the Year season, and this year will all hold special memories.
That’s not to mention what Calipari did off-the-court for the relief of disaster victims here in Kentucky and the many other charitable projects that would take too long to get into.
Nonetheless, while the Calipari era ended in a way that none of us hoped for, his tenure here brought some amazing experiences and injected life into the Kentucky Basketball program at a time of desperate need.
There will be plenty to write about what went wrong, and there are others more able to do that, but for this fan, I’m thankful for the memories Calipari created during his time at Kentucky.
