A Hard Decision Has to Be Made

“The team had won a total of just two NCAA tournament games in the previous four seasons, and over the last two, it had lost twenty-seven games. That’s not supposed to happen in Lexington. There was nowhere to go but up.”

That is a direct quote from John Calipari’s book, Player’s First, which he published in April 2014, talking about the state of the Kentucky basketball program that he inherited in 2009, following Tubby Smith and Billy Gillespie. Nearly a decade later, those numbers are eerily similar.

Over the last four seasons, Kentucky has just one NCAA Tournament win, including two first-round losses to double-digit seeds. Over the last two, the Wildcats have lost 22 games. As Calipari said, that’s not supposed to happen at Kentucky.

Through that span, people have blamed the lack of success on things like play style, recruiting strategies, and/or being slow to NIL amongst other things. But this was supposed to be the team.

A team “built for March,” Calipari said. A team that featured two of the best upperclassmen in the country. The no. 1 freshman class, which included three top 10 prospects and multiple projected NBA Draft picks. The stereotypical Calipari team, that featured elite freshmen and athleticism, playing in a revamped offense

While it created one of the most likable and exciting teams in recent Kentucky basketball history, it wasn’t enough for a single postseason win. The rosters have changed, the assistants have changed, but there has been one constant, John Calipari.

This is coming from a fan-turned-media member, soon to be 26 years old, who wrote voluntary school reports on Kentucky basketball. Whose first Kentucky basketball memories were towards the end of Tubby Smith’s career. Who cried at how bad Kentucky was during Billy Gillespie’s two seasons. Whose favorite birthday present on April, 1st 2009 was John Calipari being hired, as I learned on a school computer on ESPN. Whose Cal has treated nicely in every interaction and setting.