Inside The Panthers

Former Pitt Assistant Says Goodbye to Kentucky

Former Pitt Panthers assistant coach John Calipari will move on from his time at Kentucky.

Stephen Thompson

John Calipari is expected to return as Kentucky's coach.
John Calipari is expected to return as Kentucky's coach. / Denny Simmons / The Tennessean / USA

PITTSBURGH -- John Calipari grew up in Western Pennsylvania, played college ball near his hometown and returned to spend three years as an assistant coach for the Pitt Panthers. This year, his coaching tenure at Kentucky ended with a game in Pittsburgh.

Calipari, who was on staff at Pitt from 1985 to 1988 under head coaches Roy Chipman and Paul Evans, is out as head coach at Kentucky, he announced in a video posted to Twitter this week. He is expected to take the vacant job at Arkansas, according to multiple reports, but an official announcement has not been made.

In the video, Calipari said that he and his wife believed it was time for them to move on and allow "a new voice" to step in and lead the program. He added that he still loves coaching and chasing championships and will look for opportunities to still do so.

Ironically, Calipari's final game as head coach at Kentucky came in Pittsburgh, when his Wildcats were bounced in the first round by upstart 14-seed Oakland and sensational shooting reserve, Jack Gholke. His inconsistent, offensive juggernaut and defensive disaster of a team finished 12th in the final AP poll and earned a 3-seed in the NCAA Tournament, but faltered in an 80-76 loss to the Golden Grizzlies, bringing his recent March resume further into question. The Wildcats haven't advanced past the second weekend of the tournament in five seasons.

That said, Calipari's coaching career has been a resounding success on the whole. He's brought three different schools (UMass, Memphis and Kentucky) to the Final Four and has made six appearances in the event overall. He owns 18 regular season conference championships, 15 conference tournament championships, 23 NCAA Tournament appearances and one national championship from 2012.

Calipari has earned nine conference Coach of the Year awards and three Neismith Coach of the Year honors. 13 Consensus All-Americans have been coached by Calipari at his various stops and he's won 855 total games, the ninth-most all-time. In his 32-year coaching career, Calipari teams have finished ranked in the final AP Poll of the season 22 times.

So this exit from Kentucky and move to Arkansas says less about what Calipari is capable of and more about the Wildcats' desperation to be the best right away. Things got stale and everyone could use a fresh start.

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Stephen Thompson

STEPHEN THOMPSON

Stephen Thompson graduated with a bachelor's degree in communications and political science from Pitt in April 2022 after spending four years as a sports writer and editor at The Pitt News, the University of Pittsburgh's independent, student-run newspaper.  He primarily worked the Pitt men's basketball beat, and filled in on coverage of football, volleyball, softball, gymnastics and lacrosse, in addition to other sports as needed. His work at The Pitt News has won awards from the Pennsylvania News Media Association and Associated College Press.  During the spring and summer of 2021, Stephen interned for Pittsburgh Sports Now, covering baseball in western Pennsylvania. Hailing from Washington D.C., family ties have cultivated a love of Boston's professional teams and Pitt athletics, and a fascination with sports in general.  You can reach Stephen by email at stephenethompson00@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter. Read his latest work: