John Calipari got a mixed reaction when he returned to Rupp Arena on Saturday night, but he had the last laugh as his Arkansas Razorbacks defeated No. 12 Kentucky 89-79.
“It’s hard to win in here. And I’ve got to be honest with you, I looked up a couple of times and I thought we were losing because I kept looking at Kentucky instead of Arkansas,” Calipari said. “I made it clear it was a privilege and an honor to coach here. We had 15 unbelievable years of a great run and support.”
In his first season at Arkansas, Calipari had spent 15 successful years at Kentucky, where he went 410-123 and led the Wildcats to their eighth national championship in 2012. He resigned last April and signed a five-year contract with Arkansas.
There were more boos than cheers during his return to Lexington, but there were some applauses as well.
Calipari has faced challenges at Arkansas, struggling to find the same success he had at Kentucky, especially in the Southeastern Conference where Arkansas had lost six of its first seven conference games this season.
“We needed to win a game so it didn’t matter who it was against,” Calipari said.
Calipari is the winningest active coach in men’s college basketball, with an 867-271 record during his time at Massachusetts, Memphis, Kentucky, and now Arkansas. He was 248-26 at Rupp Arena and had led Kentucky to a 93-77 win over Vanderbilt in his final home game as the Wildcats’ coach last March.
Despite early success, Calipari struggled in his final two years at Kentucky, with early postseason exits in both the SEC Tournament and NCAA Tournament. His last game as Kentucky’s coach ended with an 80-76 loss to Oakland in the NCAA Tournament.
Former Kentucky coach Tubby Smith, who coached the Wildcats from 1997 to 2007, was also at the game. Smith, who led Kentucky to a national championship in 1998, was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in 2013 and had his jersey retired in 2021. He finished his coaching career at High Point in 2022.
Former Louisville coach Kenny Payne, who worked with Calipari at Kentucky for 10 years, joined him at Arkansas. Former Kentucky players Adou Thiero, D.J. Wagner, and Zvonimir Ivisic followed Calipari to Arkansas, along with his son Brad, who is on the Razorbacks’ staff.
Mark Pope, who replaced Calipari at Kentucky, has guided the Wildcats to a 15-5 record in his first 20 games.
