As you could imagine, Fayetteville is on cloud nine right now with the hiring of John Calipari as their new men’s head basketball coach. Following the departure from Eric Musselman, they made out pretty well by attracting Kentucky’s head coach to a fresh start away from a toxic relationship in the Commonwealth.
The school is labeling this decision as “Cal Those Hogs” to rally fans behind the new hire. His contract details currently sit at a 5-year, $7 million annually which goes through March of 2029. The contract has a maximum of two automatic rollover years for NCAA Tournament appearances that would extend the contract to 2031. The deal includes a $1 million signing bonus and features retention bonuses of $500,000 each year of the contract along with onetime bonuses for making the NCAA Tournament, reaching the second round, Sweet Sixteen, Final Four and winning a National Championship.
The school says John Calipari will be formally introduced on Wednesday (April 10) at 6 p.m. in Bud Walton Arena. The event will be open to the public.
Eric Musselman leaves the Razorback program after five seasons where he earned a 111-59 (65.3%) record and made 3 NCAA Tournaments, 3 Sweet Sixteens, and 2 Elite Eights as the coach.
John Calipari will arrive to Bud Walton Arena leaving Lexington with a 410-122 (77%) overall record with the school, compiling his career record to 813-260 (75.7%) in 32 seasons as a head coach. In his back pocket he’ll also have a National Championship, 2 Championship Game appearances, 4 Final Fours, 7 Elite Eights, 8 Sweet Sixteens, 12 NCAA Tournament appearances (in 14 chances), and 6 SEC Tournament Championships.