.jpg) Calipari in 2014 | |
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Arkansas |
| Conference | SEC |
| Record | 26–15 (.634) |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | (1959-02-10)February 10, 1959 (age 66) Moon Township, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1978–1980 | UNC Wilmington |
| 1980–1982 | Clarion |
| Position | Point guard |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1982–1985 | Kansas (associate assistant) |
| 1985–1988 | Pittsburgh (assistant) |
| 1988–1996 | UMass |
| 1996–1999 | New Jersey Nets |
| 1999–2000 | Philadelphia 76ers (assistant) |
| 2000–2009 | Memphis |
| 2009–2024 | Kentucky |
| 2024–present | Arkansas |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 881–278 (.760) (college) 72–112 (.391) (NBA) |
| Tournaments | 58–23* (NCAA Division I) 15–6 (NIT) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
* Vacated by the NCAA | |
| Awards | |
| |
| Basketball Hall of Fame Inducted in 2015 (profile) | |
Medal record | |
John Vincent Calipari (/ˌkælɪˈpæri/; born February 10, 1959) is an Americanbasketball coach who is the head coach at theUniversity of Arkansas. He has been namedNaismith College Coach of the Year three times (1996, 2008, and 2015), and was inducted into theBasketball Hall of Fame in 2015.
Previously, he was the head coach at theUniversity of Massachusetts from 1988 to 1996, theNBA'sNew Jersey Nets from 1996 to 1999, theUniversity of Memphis from 2000 to 2009, and theUniversity of Kentucky from 2009 to 2024. During the 2011–2012 season, he led Kentucky to a national championship. Additionally, he was the head coach of theDominican Republic national team in the summers of 2011 and 2012 as well as theUnited States men's national under-19 basketball team in July 2017.
Calipari coached Kentucky to fourFinal Fours in 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2015. He also led UMass and Memphis to the Final Four in 1996 and 2008 respectively; those appearances were latervacated, though Calipari was cleared of wrongdoing in both cases.[1] As a college coach, Calipari has twenty-nine 20-win seasons, eleven 30-win seasons, and five 35-win seasons.
As of December 2024, with 865 official wins, Calipari ranks 9th on theNCAA Division I all-time winningest coaches list.
Caliparilettered two years atUNC Wilmington before transferring toClarion University of Pennsylvania, from which he graduated with abachelor's degree in marketing.[2] He playedpoint guard atClarion during the 1981 and 1982 seasons, leading the team in assists and free throw percentage.
From 1982 to 1985, Calipari was an assistant at theUniversity of Kansas underTed Owens andLarry Brown.[3][4] Calipari had several jobs as the lowest coach in the pecking order when Ted Owens hired him as a volunteer assistant for the Jayhawks' 1982–83 season, including serving food at the training table.[3] "I was blessed to have the chance. Can you imagine being 22, 23 and your first opportunity to be around the game is at a program like Kansas?"[3]
From 1985 to 1988, he was an assistant coach at theUniversity of Pittsburgh underRoy Chipman andPaul Evans. From 1988 to 1996, he was head coach at theUniversity of Massachusetts. From 1996 to 1999, he was head coach and Executive VP of basketball operations for theNBA'sNew Jersey Nets. During the1999–2000 season, he was an assistant coach for thePhiladelphia 76ers under coach Larry Brown, before moving on to his next position at the University of Memphis.
Calipari is famous for popularizing thedribble drive motion offense, developed byVance Walberg, which is sometimes known as the "Memphis Attack".
In his 31 official seasons (32 seasons overall) as a collegiate head coach, Calipari's record is 855–263 (.765). His NCAA-adjusted (the records of two appearances being removed) official record in theNCAA tournament is 57–22 (.721), and in theNIT is 15–6 (.714). His teams have made 23 NCAA tournament appearances (21 officially, due to two later being vacated), including reaching theSweet Sixteen 16 times (14 officially, due to two later being vacated), theElite Eight 12 times (10 officially, due to two later being vacated), theFinal Four six times (four officially, due to two later being vacated), the NCAA Championship Game three times (twice officially, with the 2008 Championship Game appearance while at Memphis being vacated by the NCAA), winning the NCAA Championship at Kentucky in 2012, and finishing NCAA Runner-Up in 2014.[5]
As a college coach, Calipari has twenty-nine 20-win seasons (28 officially) and eleven 30-win seasons (10 officially). He has also coached six teams to the NIT, winning the NIT Championship at Memphis in2002. He is one of only four coaches in NCAA Division I history to direct three different schools to a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.[6]
From 1988 to 1996 at UMass, Calipari led the Minutemen program to five consecutive Atlantic 10 titles and NCAA Tournament appearances, including periods where the program was ranked first nationally. He finished with a 193–71 record overall, with a 91–41 record in Atlantic 10 conference games. Calipari was namedAtlantic 10 Coach of the Year in 1992, 1993, and 1996. He was also named theNaismith,NABC,Basketball Times &Sporting News National Coach of the Year in 1996. He led UMass to its first-ever appearance in the Final Four with the play of theJohn R. Wooden Award winner andNaismith College Player of the YearMarcus Camby, although this appearance was later vacated by the NCAA because Camby had accepted about $28,000 worth of gifts, in particular a gold chain, from two sports agents who were luring him to enter the NBA draft after his Sophomore season.[7]
Calipari helped accelerate the construction of theMullins Center, UMass' basketball and hockey facility. He also reached out to easternMassachusetts andBoston to enlarge the fan base. Before moving on to the New Jersey Nets, Calipari became the second winningest coach in UMass history behindJack Leaman.[8]
In 2010, then-ESPN.com writerPat Forde, in his "Forde Minutes" column, said of the 1992 team:
Calipari's greatest strength as a coach is his ability to create teams that play together. His 1992 Massachusetts team remains one of the most overachieving units The Minutes has ever seen, featuring a shooting guard with range so limited he made one 3-pointer all season (Jim McCoy), a 6-foot-3 power forward (Will Herndon), and a left-handed center who stood all of 6–7 (Harper Williams). Somehow, that collection of marginal talent went 30–5 and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16.[9]
In the Sweet 16 matchup withKentucky in 1992, official Lenny Wirtz issued Calipari a controversial technical foul for being outside the coach's box during a crucial UMass possession. Kentucky went on to faceDuke in the next round inone of the greatest games in college basketball history, won on a last-second shot byChristian Laettner.
In 1993, UMass defeated defending NCAA champion and preseason #1North Carolina in thepre-season NIT inMadison Square Garden. The following year #3 UMass defeated defending NCAA champion and #1Arkansas in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off classic, which resulted in UMass becoming the first New England college basketball team to be voted #1 in theAssociated Press poll.
During Calipari's tenure at UMass, the program became one of the most dominant in college basketball despite recruiting just oneMcDonald's All-American (Donta Bright) and having only two playersdrafted by anNBA team (Lou Roe andMarcus Camby). Forde recalled the Final Four team in Calipari's final UMass season in1995–96 as a squad "with one superstar (Marcus Camby) and a collection of complementary parts".[9] By winning both the Atlantic 10 regular season and conference tournament championships from 1992 to 1996, UMass became the second team in college basketball history to win 5 consecutive regular season and conference tournament championships (NC State was the first).
The Calipari Room, a classroom in theDu Bois Library at UMass, is so named in recognition of donations from the Calipari family.[10]
In the1996–97 season, John Calipari replacedButch Beard as head coach of the New Jersey Nets. After a 26–56 debut season, the Nets made a major draft-day trade in June 1997, acquiringKeith Van Horn,Lucious Harris and two other players in exchange forTim Thomas.
In 1997, while coaching the New Jersey Nets, Calipari directed profanities atStar-Ledger sports reporter Dan Garcia and referred to him as a "Mexican idiot".[11] Garcia sued for $5,000,000 for emotional distress. Though the case was dismissed[12] and Calipari apologized for his remarks,[11] he was still fined $25,000 by the NBA.[13]
The1997–98 season was a lone bright spot for the Nets in the late 1990s. Theteam played well under Calipari, winning 43 games and qualifying for the playoffs on the last day of the season. The Nets were seeded eighth in the Eastern Conference and lost to theChicago Bulls in the1998 playoffs in three straight games.
The1998–99 season was delayed for three months due to an owners' lockout of the players. When the abbreviated 50-game season began, the Nets were a choice by experts as a surprise team. However,Sam Cassell was injured in the first game and the team started poorly. With the Nets underachieving at 3–15, the Nets traded Cassell to theMilwaukee Bucks, while the Nets acquiredStephon Marbury from theMinnesota Timberwolves. After two more losses, Calipari was fired as head coach with the team at 3–17. He finished his tenure with an overall record of 72 wins and 112 losses and a .391 overall winning percentage. He then joined Larry Brown as an assistant coach for thePhiladelphia 76ers.[14]
Calipari became head coach at the University of Memphis in 2000. In Calipari's first nine years as head coach at Memphis, he won 214 games (38 wins were vacated) and posted seven consecutive 20-win seasons, plus one more in his final season (including an NCAA record four consecutive 30-win seasons, though the third season was vacated and this record no longer holds). He also earned seven consecutive postseason bids (plus one in his final season). His 2007–2008 team's 38 victories set a new NCAA Division I Men's Basketball record for most victories in a season, a record that now belongs to the 2011–2012 Kentucky Wildcats due to NCAA violations that vacated all of Memphis' wins. The nine consecutive 20-win seasons and the nine consecutive postseason appearances would have been the most in school history, though that officially stands now at seven because of the vacated 2007–08 season. He was namedConference USA Coach of the Year in 2006, 2008, and 2009. In 2008, he was namedNaismith College Coach of the Year, receiving the honor for the second time.[15] In 2009, he was namedSports Illustrated College Basketball Coach of the Year.[16]
He built a national program by recruitingblue chip players from the Eastern part of the country, such asDajuan Wagner from Camden (NJ),Darius Washington Jr. fromOrlando (FL),Rodney Carney fromIndianapolis (IN),Shawne Williams fromMemphis (TN),Joey Dorsey fromBaltimore (MD),Chris Douglas-Roberts fromDetroit (MI),Antonio Anderson from Lynn (MA),Robert Dozier from Lithonia (GA),Derrick Rose fromChicago (IL), andTyreke Evans from Aston (PA).
While at Memphis, Calipari popularized thedribble drive motion offense that was invented by formerPepperdine basketball coachVance Walberg.[17][18]
On January 21, 2008, Calipari led the Tigers to the No. 1 ranking in theAP Poll for only the second time in school history.
In 2006 and 2008, Memphis earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA men's basketball tournament. In2008, Calipari's Tigers advanced to thenational championship game, their first under his leadership. They also won 38 games, the most regular-season wins in NCAA history (his 2011–12 Kentucky team would also go on to win 38 games). His team, however, would lose to theKansas Jayhawks, 75–68, inovertime. This team later had its entire season record vacated by the NCAA because theEducational Testing Service (ETS), which administers theSAT college admissions test, invalidatedDerrick Rose's score on that test. Despite this, Rose still denies any wrongdoing. The NCAA began to investigate the test and contacted the ETS. Because the NCAA had begun to investigate, ETS decided to review the test. The ETS sent three letters to Rose's family's former address in Chicago (instead of his dorm in Memphis) to ask that Rose verify some information on his test. Because he did not reply to the letters, ETS invalidated his SAT. This happened even though the NCAA investigated and reported that they could not find significant evidence to prove that Rose did not take the test. Because the ETS had invalidated the test, the NCAA retroactively declared Rose ineligible. To this day, the official position of the NCAA is that Rose did take his own SAT. If not for the vacated wins, Calipari would be the winningest coach in Tigers history, as he would have 252 wins toLarry Finch's 220.[19]
On May 28, 2010, John Calipari, Derrick Rose, and University of Memphis athletic director R.C. Johnson reached a $100,000out-of-court settlement with three attorneys who represented Memphis season ticket holders and threatened a lawsuit over the vacated 2007–08 season. Also as part of the settlement, Calipari donated his near-$232,000bonus to the Memphis scholarship fund.[20]
On March 30, 2009, four days after Memphis' season ending loss to Missouri in theNCAA tournament, multiple sources reported that Calipari would agree to be the head coach at theUniversity of Kentucky, after UK's head coach,Billy Gillispie, was fired after two unsuccessful seasons at the school.[21] Calipari rejected a counter offer by Memphis for Kentucky's 8 year, $31.65 million contract.[22]
According to university officials, John Calipari signed a written contract on March 31, 2009. The contract was worth $34.65 million over 8 years, plus incentives.[22] On April 1, 2009, the University of Kentucky Director of Athletics, Mitch Barnhart, formally introduced John Calipari as the new coach of the University of Kentucky Wildcats. During the press conference, Calipari spoke at length about his relationships with former UK basketball players and coaches, and also in his difficulties in accepting the UK job, largely due to his deep emotional ties with both the city of Memphis and University of Memphis. Calipari stated, "Coming to UK was the easy part, it was leaving the city of Memphis that was the hard part." He went on to refer to the University of Kentucky coaching position as his "dream job".[23] Calipari became the 22nd coach overall at Kentucky, and just the 7th coach in the last 79 years for the Wildcats.[24]
In his first year as head coach, Calipari had a highly touted recruiting class, including the No. 1 overall rated recruit,John Wall, plus fellow 5-star recruits,DeMarcus Cousins,Eric Bledsoe, andDaniel Orton. On December 21, 2009, Calipari led the Cats to their 12th victory of the season and the program's 2,000th victory ever. Kentucky won its 44th SEC Regular Season Championship in 2009–10, with a 14–2 conference record. Calipari's team followed this up with the UK's 26th SEC Tournament Championship, with an overtime defeat of Mississippi State, 75–74, in the SEC Tournament title game. In the NCAA Tournament, however, No. 1 seed Kentucky (East Region) was upset byWest Virginia in the Elite 8, to finish the season at 35–3.
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In his second season at Kentucky, Calipari recruited the No. 1 rated point guard in the 2010 class,Brandon Knight. In addition to Knight, Calipari also signed two other 5-star recruits,Terrence Jones andDoron Lamb. In 2010–11, Kentucky finished the regular season with a record of 22–8, with a 10–6 record in SEC regular season play. UK would go on to win its second consecutive SEC Tournament Championship, defeating Florida, 70–54, in the SEC Tournament title game. As a result, Kentucky received a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament (East Regional). During the NCAA Tournament, Kentucky would go on to defeat No. 1 overall seedOhio State, 62–60, in the Sweet-16. In the Elite Eight, Calipari's team would avenge an early season loss toNorth Carolina, by defeating the Tar Heels, 76–69, securing Kentucky's first Final Four appearance since 1998. In the Final Four, UK fell to the eventual NCAA Champions,UConn, by one point, 56–55, finishing with a final record of 29–9.
In this third season, Kentucky landed another No. 1 recruiting class with four consensus five star players:Anthony Davis,Marquis Teague,Michael Kidd-Gilchrist andKyle Wiltjer. Kentucky came into the season ranked #2 in the country. They finished the regular season with a 30–1 record, their only loss toIndiana by a buzzer-beater and went 16–0 in conference play. In the SEC tournament, Kentucky lost in the championship game toVanderbilt 71–64. In the NCAA Tournament, Calipari's team was selected as the overall #1 seed in the tournament, representing as the South Region #1 seed. Kentucky avenged the early season loss to Indiana beating them in the Sweet Sixteen 102–90, and knocked offBaylor in the Elite Eight 82–70, to advance to their second consecutive Final Four. In theFinal Four inNew Orleans, Kentucky first faced their in-state rival, theLouisville Cardinals andRick Pitino, winning 69–61. Two days later, in the National Championship game, Kentucky played in another early season rematch against theKansas Jayhawks, winning a hard-fought contest 67–59. The win secured Calipari his first NCAA Championship, an NCAA record 38-win season, and the 8th overall NCAA Championship for Kentucky. By doing so, John Calipari became the 5th head coach to win an NCAA Championship at Kentucky (an NCAA record), and the first coach to do so at the school sinceTubby Smith in 1998.
Following the 2012 championship, UK Athletics DirectorMitch Barnhart announced on May 4 that Calipari's contract had been renegotiated. Under the new contract, Calipari would make up to $8 million annually[26] (not including bonuses), which further cemented his status as one of the most highly compensated college basketball coaches in the country.
Theplatoon system established under John Calipari not only provided life for the University of Kentucky's basketball team in 2014, but it also provided an important defensive weapon. Theplatoon system was introduced in 2014, and consisted of playing 10 men in legions of five. Each platoon includes three ball-handlers and two taller players.[27]
In April 2019, Calipari agreed to a "lifetime" contract with Kentucky, centered on a 10-year coaching extension, and a lifetime paid ambassadorship when he retires.[28]
Following a first round upset loss to theOakland Golden Grizzlies in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, Calipari announced he would be leaving Kentucky, but did not immediately announce plans to retire or accept another job.[29]
On April 10, 2024, Calipari was named the head coach at Arkansas, signing a 5-year deal worth $7 million a season. The deal also included a signing bonus of $1 million, annual $500,000 retention bonuses, and incentives based on the Razorbacks' NCAA Tournament performances.[30]
Calipari led the Razorbacks to theSweet 16 for the fourth time in five years in his first season at the helm.[31] Despite an 0–5 start in the SEC and injuries to his two leading scorers, Calipari rallied his squad to 22 regular season wins. As a 10 seed, his team knocked off aBill Self- led Kansas team and then aRick Pitino-led St. John's team before falling to Texas Tech in overtime in the regional semifinals in San Francisco'sChase Center.[32] It was Calipari's first trip to the second weekend since 2019.
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978–79 | UNC Wilmington | 25 | N/A | N/A | .235 | N/A | .840 | 0.3 | 0.9 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.2 |
| 1980–81 | Clarion | 19 | N/A | N/A | .457 | N/A | .615 | 0.9 | 2.6 | 0.9 | 0.0 | 3.1 |
| 1981–82 | Clarion | 27 | N/A | N/A | .387 | N/A | .717 | 1.0 | 5.3 | 1.3 | 0.1 | 5.3 |
* ^a b c UMass had its 4–1 record in the 1996 NCAA tournament and Final Four standing vacated afterMarcus Camby was ruled ineligible due to his contact with a sports agent.
** ^a b c d e f The NCAA vacated 38 wins and 1 loss from Memphis's 2007–08 season under Calipari due to violations of NCAA rules.[33]
***^ Under current NCAA official records, Calipari's record as of March 19, 2023, is 790–251 (.759), which accounts for the 4 vacated wins (and one vacated loss) in the 1995–96 NCAA Tournament at UMass, and the 38 vacated wins (and 1 vacated losses) at Memphis in the entire 2007–08 season.[34]
Calipari's actual on-the-court record without vacated games is 877–276 (.761)
****The2020 NCAA tournament was canceled due to concerns over theCOVID-19 pandemic.
| Regular season | G | Games coached | W | Games won | L | Games lost | W–L % | Win–loss % |
| Playoffs | PG | Playoff games | PW | Playoff wins | PL | Playoff losses | PW–L % | Playoff win–loss % |
| Team | Year | G | W | L | W–L% | Finish | PG | PW | PL | PW–L% | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Jersey | 1996–97 | 82 | 26 | 56 | .317 | 5th in Atlantic | — | — | — | — | Missed Playoffs |
| New Jersey | 1997–98 | 82 | 43 | 39 | .524 | 3rd in Atlantic | 3 | 0 | 3 | .000 | Lost infirst round |
| New Jersey | 1998–99 | 20 | 3 | 17 | .150 | 7th in Atlantic | — | — | — | — | Fired |
| Career | 184 | 72 | 112 | .391 | 3 | 0 | 3 | .000 |
On February 26, 2011, after Kentucky beat theFlorida Gators inRupp Arena, Calipari was recognized for his 500th career victory as a Division I men's basketball coach. Over the course of the next few months, the NCAA's Committee on Infractions (COI) and theUniversity of Kentucky exchanged letters debating whether Calipari had indeed reached the 500-win milestone. Due to games vacated by the NCAA in two different seasons (the 1996 season at UMass and the 2008 season at Memphis), the NCAA only officially recognized Calipari's 500th all time coaching victory on March 15, 2012.[35]
Assistant coaches under Calipari who became NCAA or NBA head coaches
Calipari was inducted into theNational Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.[36]
On September 11, 2015, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.[37][38] As of the 2024–25 NCAA Division I college basketball season, John Calipari is one of only 6 active coaches enshrined (Rick Pitino, Tom Izzo, Geno Auriemma, Kim Mulkey andBill Self).
On September 21, 2021, the main basketball court at Clarion University's Tippin Gymnasium was officially renamed the John V. Calipari Court and will be known as "Coach Cal Court."[39]
He has written several books, includingBounce Back: Overcoming Setbacks to Succeed in Business and in Life (2009)[40] andPlayers First: Coaching from the Inside Out (2014).[41] Additionally, Calipari starred in the 30 for 30 documentary from ESPN "One and Not Done" which details his professional career.
Calipari, who has dual citizenship in the U.S. and Italy,[42] has been married to his wife since 1986. They have two daughters and a son. His daughterErin played basketball atUMass,[42] and his son Brad played basketball at Kentucky and Detroit Mercy.[43][44][45] His second cousin isTJ Friedl, a baseball player.[46]
Calipari appeared at GovernorAndy Beshear's July 9, 2020, press briefing to publicly state his support of theKentucky statewide mask mandate due to theCOVID-19 pandemic in Kentucky stating: "We in our state have done an unbelievable job," Calipari said. "Let's take it up a notch. This is kind of like what I'm coaching: We're winning, and I'm being even harder. We are winning, let's be stronger." He made it clear that he volunteered to appear and the governor did not request his appearance.[47]
On February 13, 1994, Temple University basketball coachJohn Chaney threatened to kill Calipari at a post-game news conference, while Calipari was speaking at a podium.[48] Chaney entered the conference mid-speech, called him an "Italian son of a bitch," accusing Calipari of manipulating the referees. When Calipari attempted to respond to the accusations, Chaney yelled, "Shut up, goddammit!" and proceeded to charge the stage, before being stopped by security. While being held back, Chaney shouted, "When I see you, I'm gonna kick your ass!" As security restrained Chaney, he repeatedly yelled, "I'll kill you!" and angrily admitted telling his players to "knock your fucking kids in the mouth." Chaney received a one-game suspension for the incident.[49][50] Chaney apologized a few days later and they eventually reconciled and would later become friends, occasionally posing for pictures pretending to fight for fans.[51][52]
| International | |
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| National | |
| Academics | |
| Other | |
