Recently, the college basketball world received a jolt to the senses when it was announced that former Kentucky basketball head coach John Calipari would be leaving the university to take the same position with the SEC rival Arkansas Razorbacks following the Wildcats' most recent flameout in this year's NCAA Tournament in the Round of 64 vs Oakland. Calipari found great success in the early 2010s with Kentucky, winning a national championship in the 2012 season, but has seen several shockingly early exits in the NCAA Tournament in recent seasons despite continuing to bring in elite recruiting classes year after year.
One person who isn't a fan of the way Calipari reportedly handled things in his Kentucky basketball exit is none other than former NBA All-Star and Syracuse basketball standout Carmelo Anthony, who recently took to his own 7PM In Brooklyn Podcast to speak out against the fact that Calipari was reportedly not as forthcoming as he could have been to the current player on the Wildcats' roster.
“The part I don’t like about it is the communication with the players. Like you ain’t communicating with some of the players, like yo this is what it is, I’m out. Some of those players are hearing it, just like we’re hearing it, and that’s the bulls–t part of the game. You knew something was happening, you was having conversations, you get what I’m saying? Keep it a buck with the kids, especially the guys that’s coming in this year,” said Anthony, per 7 PM in Brooklyn with Carmelo Anthony on YouTube.
Context is key
Of course, it should be noted that Calipari is expected to be bringing along some of his Kentucky basketball players with him to join him as a member of Arkansas basketball. Furthermore, multiple of Kentucky's 2023-24 players, including standouts Rob Dillingham and Reed Sheppard, are expected to take their talents to the upcoming NBA Draft, which is set to take place shortly after the conclusion of the NBA postseason.
Still, if it is true that Calipari didn't inform whichever Wildcats were staying on board for future seasons, it's easy to see why Carmelo Anthony might have reservations about that, despite having only spent one season in college basketball himself, winning a national championship with Syracuse over 20 years ago in 2002-2003 in what was one of the greatest individual college basketball seasons of all time.
In any case, the Kentucky basketball community had grown divided on whether or not Calipari's presence was a good thing for the program in recent years as the embarrassing early tournament losses continued to rack up. In some ways, Kentucky had begun to be viewed solely as a pitstop for some of the nation's top prospects on their way to the NBA as opposed to a real college basketball program looking to build long term success.
Kentucky's next job will be to find its new head coach. Several names have already made their way through the rumor mill on that front, including UConn's Dan Hurley as well as Billy Donovan of the Chicago Bulls.
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