Stephen A. Smith SHOCKED as John Calipari leaves Kentucky for Arkansas after 15 years

John Calipari leaves the Kentucky Wildcats after 15 years at the helm.

Stephen A. Smith SHOCKED as John Calipari leaves Kentucky for Arkansas after 15 years

Stephen A. Smith in shock as legendary college basketball head coach John Calipari leaves Kentucky for Arkansas

With the success John Calipari has had with the Kentucky Wildcats, it was hard to fathom that one day he would decide to move on to another college. Yesterday brought some shocking news for Stephen A. Smith, as the legendary college head coach is set to leave Kentucky for Arkansas after 15 years.

On the reported signing with the Arkansas Razorbacks, the topic was up for discussion on ESPN’s First Take.

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To which Smith suggested there were grumblings coming from the University of Kentucky that they were not happy with the recent disappointing seasons under Calipari. Moreover, the Kentucky Wildcats are one of the elite programs compared to Arkansas.

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I’m shocked! I love Calipari, I’ve known him for close to 30 years. But he’s underachieved in the last decade. Haven’t made it to a Final Four since 2015. Because to go from Kentucky to Arkansas, that’s not about a better opportunity as much as it is a better environment for you. Cause the environment where you were evidently soured on you. That’s the impression that I’ve got

To which Stephen A. Smith said

Smith believes Calipari preferred to walk away than be dismissed, which would have been a shot at his legacy. After all, a head coach with his name on the top 15 all-time list of college basketball coaches in the NCAA will lose all his legacy-creating efforts with that black mark.

Calipari will take over from Eric Musselman, who joined the USC Trojans, as their next head coach. The pressure will be on the Calipari to get better results than what Mueller has achieved with the Razorbacks.

John Calipari’s legacy with the Kentucky Wildcats

John Calipari joined the Kentucky Wildcats after coaching the Memphis Tigers for nine seasons. Since joining, he has led the Wildcats to their first NCAA championship in 14 years in 2012. A couple of years later, he guided his team back to the championship, only to end up as runners-up.

However, over the past 8 years, the Wildcats have only cracked the Elite Eight twice. More embarrassingly, in the last four seasons, they did not make it to the March Madness once, got knocked out by low-seeded teams in the round of 64 twice, and managed to get through a round of 32 games once.

Quite a disappointing latter half of his career with the college. Naturally, they would grow impatient with the legendary coach after handing him the second-best contract in college basketball history. As Stephen A. Smith suggested, moving away was the best option for his legacy.

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