The Kentucky Wildcats appear to be in a strange state of flux right now, with a roster that still needs work and an unusually quiet offseason in the transfer portal. This has boosters worried, and a new report about coach John Calipari’s program is unlikely to make them feel much better.
Matt Jones of Kentucky Sports Radio shared some worrying information on his show Thursday, describing the Kentucky program as one “in disarray” and falling behind rivals due to Calipari isolating himself atop the program.
“Players come and go; that worries me less than the other stuff. And again, if people don’t want to believe this, they don’t have to but this is the truth: Calipari has no connection with the main boosters of this program, specifically the main couple and it’s killing us. It just is,” Jones said, via Adam Haste of A Sea Of Blue. “The people around the program can’t talk to him; they don’t know what to say to him. And he is completely isolated from everybody.
“The program has been in disarray. I have people — and this has happened three times in the last four days — people who genuinely like and care about Kentucky basketball but also genuinely like and care about Cal say to me, ‘Matt, what is going on?’ And the tough part is I don’t think there’s an easy answer to that.”
One would think Calipari would be very good at navigating the NIL landscape, but he appears to be disconnected from it all at this point. That may be a big reason for Kentucky’s lack of success in the transfer portal, as one Wildcat target cited NIL rights as a big reason for his ultimate decision.
The concerns are significant enough that the athletic director has had to defend Calipari’s efforts. With the roster looking iffy and little postseason success in recent years, it is no wonder people are very worried.
Kentucky is coming off a 22-12 season. They haven’t made it past the second round of the NCAA Tournament the last two seasons and last made the Final Four in 2015. Meanwhile, Calipari effectively has a lifetime deal paying him over $8 million per season.
