John Calipari leaving Kentucky for Arkansas? Wild report says this is happening

UPDATE: Pete Thamel of ESPN reports that John Calipari is finalizing a deal to become Arkansas' head coach, leaving Kentucky after 15 seasons.

ORIGINAL: Hold onto your butts college basketball fans. The coaching rumor mill is churning and it's churning hard.

What started jokes on Twitter and slowly gained steam online has now turned into multiple reports suggesting John Calipari is leaving Kentucky for Arkansas.

"Multiple sources are telling me Arkansas has zeroed in on John Calipari," Wess Moore of FOX16 tweeted on Sunday night. "Barring any last minute issues, I expect him to be the Razorbacks new head coach."

Forgive me if I take these reports with a sizable grain of salt. It's just too astounding to believe without some pretty heavy breaking news street cred.

Wess Moore isn't a nobody. He's been covering Arkansas sports for a long time. But he's not a major player in the breaking news space. That doesn't mean the report is wrong. It's just not like Jon Rothstein is saying it.

Except, there may actually be something to this .....

Bob Holt of of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette as now reported that talks are underway while Shams Charania of The Athletic described those takes as "serious."

Can Arkansas afford John Calipari's buyout?

Incredibly, it does look like Arkansas could afford to buy out Calipari from Kentucky because...there is no buyout.

While Kentucky would be on the hook for Cal's salary if they fired him, he can leave of his own free will for nothing.

That means Arkansas could indeed entice the national title winner out of Lexington with the right offer.

Why would John Calipari leave Kentucky for Arkansas?

No offense to the Razorbacks, but Arkansas is a clear step down from Kentucky in terms of program prestige.

Having said that, Calipari can't guarantee he'll have a job with the Wildcats next year. He may have been very close to being fired this year. If he didn't produce much improved results in the 2024-25 season, his seat would be flaming hot.

So it does make some sense to leave on his own terms while a job that Dan Wolken claims he holds in "high regard." Eric Musselman, who left Arkansas for USC, took the Razorbacks to multiple Elite Eights in recent years.

Then again, most of us could stomach the indignity of being fired from a place like Kentucky if it meant $27 million was coming our way.