Chicken money and feeling unwanted.
Those two factors marked a major shift in college basketball on Sunday night as Kentucky coach John Calipari neared a five-year contract with Arkansas that is expected to close on Monday. Per ESPN.
Let’s start with an even more unusual element of this SEC coaching story: chicken money.
ESPN identified “material connections” to the deal, centering on Calipari’s relationship with Arkansas billionaire and backer John H. Tyson. Chairman of Tyson Foods.
Yes, that Tyson Foods.
Forbes estimates Tyson His grandfather, John W. Tyson, founded Tyson Foods. Member of the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame.
That chicken money is invested in Arkansas’ athletics program and is one of the reasons why Arkansas offered Calipari a contract that would have earned him more than the $8.5 million he was making at Kentucky. That is certain. According to ESPN, the base will be further reduced.
Calipari and Tyson recently played golf together According to Fox Sports, Eric Musselman was on his way to leave Arkansas for the University of Southern California.
The other element is even simpler.
The Big Blue Nation began to take notice of Calipari after Kentucky’s second first-round loss to a double-digit seed in three years extended Kentucky’s Final Four appearance to nine years.
This left Calipari feeling “bad” about her situation and feeling unwanted due to the lack of support. According to Fox Sports.
Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart announced Calipari would return for the 2024-25 season, but Calipari had his eye on other jobs.
Calipari has been criticized for winning just one title in 15 seasons with the Wildcats.
The school went 410-123 during that span, which also included four Final Four trips and two national title games.
He now looks to replicate that success at the University of Arkansas. The University of Arkansas is attempting the unusual feat of bringing a premier coach from a more established school into its conference.
One of the unusual subplots of this whole story is how SMU started a chain reaction by firing head coach Rob Lanier after two seasons.
SMU then acquired USC coach Andy Enfield, which led to the Trojans acquiring Musselman, who reached the Elite Eight twice in five seasons in Fayetteville.
The Hogs then pivoted to Calipari and Kentucky to see if the sport’s top coaches like College’s Dan Hurley, Alabama’s Nate Oats and Baylor’s Scott Drew would listen. I’ll definitely call.
