Source – John Calipari signs 5-year contract with Arkansas

John Calipari has signed a five-year contract to become the University of Arkansas' next men's basketball coach, sources told ESPN Sunday night. This will be a huge hit that will shake up the SEC and college basketball world.

Sources told ESPN that Calipari's contract will result in his overall base salary being slightly less than the $8.5 million he earns at Kentucky. But the deal is expected to be packed with incentives to hit that number.

The deal is expected to close within the next 24 hours.

A key relationship that helped seal the deal was Calipari's long-standing connection to billionaire John H. Tyson, a longtime backer of Arkansas.

Calipari will replace Eric Musselman, who left last week for the University of Southern California. After leaving his position, Arkansas State athletic director Hunter Yurachek followed in the footsteps of Ole Miss' Chris Beard and Kansas State's Jerome Tan, both of whom have returned to their respective schools. According to people familiar with the matter, Arkansas is believed to have offered Beard around $5 million annually.

The Wildcats have missed the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament since 2019, suffering upset losses to 15th-seeded St. Peter's University and 14th-seeded Oakland University, so Calipari said his tenure at Kentucky He was under more pressure than at any other time. in recent years.

After the first-round loss to Oakland, there was speculation about Calipari's position, and athletic director Mitch Barnhart was forced to issue a statement confirming that Calipari would return as the Wildcats' head coach next season. .

If Kentucky fires him, it will owe Calipari more than $33 million, but if another program hires him, the school won't owe anything.

Calipari, one of the biggest names in college sports, has been at the University of Kentucky since 2009. He led the Wildcats to a national title in 2012 and four Final Four appearances in his first six seasons in Lexington. Kentucky then reached the Elite Eight in 2017 and 2019, but has won just one game in the NCAA Tournament since its last run to the regional finals.

Off the court, Calipari established the Wildcats as a national recruiting powerhouse, consistently landing top-ranked recruiting classes.

In 15 seasons with the Wildcats, Calipari went 410-123.

Calipari was the head coach at Memphis for nine seasons before taking over for Billy Gillispie at Kentucky in 2009. He led the Tigers to the Elite Eight twice and reached the national championship game in 2008, but lost in overtime to the University of Kansas.

Calipari also led the University of Massachusetts to the Final Four in 1996 before leaving for the NBA and coaching the New Jersey Nets for three seasons.