As an Auburn basketball alum, Charles Barkley probably finds little comfort in seeing John Calipari simply change his suit color for SEC games with his move from Kentucky to Arkansas. But overall, he sees the move as a positive – for all parties involved.
During yesterday’s pregame coverage of the NCAA Tournament, Barkley said that Calipari leaving Kentucky is probably best for the program and believes that it was time for Calipari to move on. He believes that Kentucky had been underachieving too much to stick with him for much longer. Ultimately, Barkley felt that Calipari is effectively running away before getting run out of town.
“It’s good for Kentucky Basketball if they’re doing well,” Barkley said.
“I think it’s probably time for John to move. I think it had ran its course. He’s a terrific coach but they’ve underachieved and you can’t underachieve at Kentucky. He’s had tremendous success but, to be honest, he’s underachieved the last few years. He’s probably getting out ahead of the posse.”
As for his new home in Fayetteville, Barkley believes that it’ll be a good fit for Calipari.
“Arkansas? Hey, that’s a great job,” Barkley said. “Not many people can handle that job.”
Calipari won 77-percent of his games in 15 seasons with the Wildcats and enjoyed tremendous success during his first six years, winning a national title in 2012 and reaching the Final Four three other times in that span.
But ever since the team saw their undefeated run end in the 2015 NCAA Tournament, the team hit a bit of a wall in March. They hadn’t been to the Final Four since and made just two more appearances in the Elite Eight plus another in the Sweet Sixteen.
The last three seasons have seen the Wildcats go 1-3 in the NCAA Tournament.