John Calipari expects to be back as Kentucky’s head coach next season. ‘I love this job.’
John Calipari expects to stay put at the University of Kentucky.
That much was clear from Calipari’s appearance on his final radio show of the 2023-24 season Monday night, when the UK head coach addressed Kentucky basketball fans for the first time since his postgame press conference following the Wildcats’ season-ending loss four days earlier.
“I have had better weekends,” Calipari said to begin the show, which is hosted by UK broadcaster Tom Leach. “Hurting. Our team — players, staff, their families — we’re all hurting. I’m hurting for them, but I’m hurting. I’m hurting for our fans, and I know many fans out there are hurting. But I want to say: no one is hurting more than me right now.”
Calipari was contrite during his opening statement and talked about the “standard” of Kentucky basketball throughout the hour-long show. He said that’s something he has embraced since arriving in Lexington in 2009.
“We have a standard here,” Calipari said. “… My standard is we’re playing to play deep into the NCAA Tournament and compete for national titles. And win national titles. I wanted this job knowing that was the case. I love this job knowing that was the case. I never left this job.
“But that’s what the standard is for me.”
Calipari said Monday night that he had not yet met with UK athletics director Mitch Barnhart following Thursday’s loss. Calipari and Barnhart did talk in the Wildcats’ locker room in Pittsburgh after that game, but they have a more formal meeting at the conclusion of each season to go over the previous campaign and look at possible changes moving forward.
The 65-year-old coach said he was open to changes after another early exit in the NCAA Tournament.
“Every year we share thoughts with each other,” Calipari said. “… And I look forward to hearing his thoughts. How we can be better.”
Calipari talks about the loss to Oakland
Kentucky was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament with a first-round loss to 14-seeded Oakland on Thursday night, a defeat that came two years after the Wildcats’ stunning upset at the hands of 15-seeded Saint Peter’s, another first-round exit from March Madness.
In last week’s game, former Division II player Jack Gohlke scored 32 points and made 10 of 20 shots from 3-point range for the Golden Grizzlies, leading the heavy underdogs to the biggest upset of the opening week of the tournament.
Calipari talked Monday night about the preparation for that game and what went wrong once the ball was tipped.
He said the Cats didn’t want to focus too much of their attention on Gohlke — the NCAA Tournament’s most-prolific 3-point shooter with 121 long-range makes coming into the game — because he had experienced several off-shooting nights earlier in the season, and Oakland’s lineup also featured Horizon League player of the year Trey Townsend, more of a focal point for Kentucky’s defense.
Gohlke was shooting a not-lights-out 37.0% on the season going into the matchup with the Wildcats, though he had shot 44.6% and averaged 5.1 made 3s over the previous 13 games.
Calipari also said the plan was for Kentucky to shoot 15 3-pointers per half against Oakland’s matchup zone, but the Cats started the game by passing up shots from outside.
“Why put me through this again, Tom? I’m hurting like everybody else,” Calipari said after rehashing the loss. “… I wanted to keep coaching this team. I wanted us to have that run that they can cherish and relish the rest of their life. I liked our corner of the world. And I’m sitting there after the game and trying to lead, for them. Knowing how bad they’re hurting. Knowing that you have to be there. Knowing that our fans are gonna go crazy. And they should. They should. Knowing that will wear down at some point.
“Not yet, because it’s not wearing down on me yet. I’m still hurting. But I know — looking at this, looking back on it — for me, just like painful. Like, we were trying to do some stuff and weren’t able to get it done.”
Calipari talks about possible changes
Last week’s loss means UK has won only one game in the past four NCAA Tournaments, and the Cats have not advanced beyond the first week of the event since 2019, when Calipari led Kentucky to the Elite Eight, falling to Auburn in overtime with a trip to the Final Four on the line.
After that 2018-19 season ended — and amid interest from UCLA regarding its open head coaching position — Calipari agreed to a 10-year, $86 million contract extension that set him up to be the highest-paid coach in college basketball while leading the Wildcats’ program through 2029, when he turns 70 years old.
There are still five years and $44.5 million on that deal, and UK would owe Calipari more than $33 million over the remainder of the contract if it wanted to part ways with him this offseason.
At the time he signed the contract extension, Calipari had led Kentucky to seven Elite Eights, four Final Fours and the 2012 national title over a 10-year span. But this recent NCAA Tournament drought — just one March Madness victory since agreeing to the new deal — has put UK fans on edge, especially following the latest loss, which spelled the end of the season for a beloved Wildcats team featuring players such as Reed Sheppard, Rob Dillingham and Antonio Reeves, all of whom might have played their final game for Kentucky on Thursday night.
Reeves and fellow fifth-year college player Tre Mitchell are the only certain departures off the 2023-24 roster, but Dillingham and Sheppard are both considered NBA lottery picks in this year’s draft, and they could be among several UK players to leave the program this offseason. None of UK’s underclassmen have announced any future plans.
Calipari has the No. 2 recruiting class in the country coming to town for next season. Kentucky could still return a few players off the 2023-24 roster, and the UK coaching staff is also expected to take a long look at possible additions in the NCAA transfer portal over the next few weeks.
On Monday night’s radio show, Calipari teased the possible return of some of the current Wildcats, though he did not speculate on the futures of any specific players outside of Reeves and Mitchell, the two departing veterans.
Calipari said there would be an offseason focus on bolstering the Wildcats’ defense and adding more physicality to the team before the 2024-25 campaign. Kentucky was ranked at 112th nationally in defensive efficiency to start this week, according to KenPom, the program’s worst mark in 15 years under Calipari and just the fourth time UK has finished the season outside the top 40 nationally in that stat.
He left the door open for staff personnel changes this offseason and said a larger chunk of the summer practice window might be dedicated to defensive preparation, as well as weight training and strength and conditioning work to become a more physical squad.
“I’m convinced that we have to get back to being that kind of team,” he said. “And I believe we will.”
Calipari added that he didn’t want the focus on defense to take away from the offensive success Kentucky enjoyed this season. The Cats were No. 2 in the nation in points per game.
The two dominant themes throughout Monday night’s hour of airtime: Calipari fully expects to be coaching the Cats when next season begins. And he’s leaning heavily into the standard of winning championships during his remaining time at Kentucky.
“You know I’m gonna work. Work for this state, work for this program and this university. Really work for these young people,” he said. “That’s my commitment. I’m not changing. 24/7 — let’s go. Whether it’s recruiting — all the stuff that we’ve gotta do. That’s a commitment that I give to the fans. And I haven’t changed.
“This is like wearing a coat. It never goes away. But I love it! This is what I want! This is what I wanted. This is why I never left. This is it. And now it’s, ‘Let’s come together. And let’s go do something. Let’s do something special.’ And we can do it. We’ve done it. Let’s do it again.”
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