Kentucky fans greeted Arkansas coach John Calipari with boos by Wildcat fans when he was introuduced before his return to Rupp Arena on Saturday night.
UK fans also loudly booed former Wildcat players who transferred to play for the Razorbacks in Calipari’s first season after leaving Kentucky as their names were announced in pregame introductions.
Calipari’s entrance marked a historic and surreal moment as he stepped onto the floor that he once patrolled for 15 seasons while leading the Wildcats to a 410-123 record.
Just 10 months ago, Calipari was preparing to soldier on at UK after a stunning loss to No. 14 seed Oakland ended an otherwise successful Kentucky season in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Wildcats athletic director Mitch Barnhart even announced publicly that Calipari would be back.
But amidst vocal negativity from UK fans about the direction of the program under his direction, Calipari kept his options open.
Calipari had a preexisting friendship with Arkansas mega-booster John Tyson and met with Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek during the Final Four. News broke the day before the national championship game that Calipari would, in fact, be leaving to lead the Razorbacks.
Amid his move to to an in-conference foe, Calipari expected to be booed upon returning to Kentucky as the coach of an opposing team
“But that’s all part of it,” he said this week. “Shoot, you get booed. I’ve done this so long, I’ve got bazooka holes in my body. So when you shoot arrows, it doesn’t even hit skin. It just goes through one of those bazooka holes. But it’ll be interesting.”
Calipari coached UK to the 2012 national title and an appearance in the 2014 national title game. The Wildcats also reached the Final Four in 2011 and 2015. But after an Elite Eight appearance in 2019, UK never again advanced past the first weekend of the Big Dance under Calipari’s direction.
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