Thursday Headlines: Should John Calipari be booed or cheered in return to Rupp Arena?

Posted by author January 30, 2025 Basketball

Boo, or cheer when John Calipari’s name is announced when Arkansas comes to Rupp Arena?

That’s the question making its way around the Big Blue Nation.

John Calipari will make his first appearance in Rupp Arena as the head coach of the Razorbacks on Saturday, and it seems like there will be a very mixed reaction when Calipari is announced as the Arkansas coach.

To me, there is valid reasoning on both sides, and neither side is inherently wrong in how they choose to react to Calipari’s return.

On one hand, Calipari left the Kentucky Wildcats after a few subpar seasons to close out his time as head coach of the Wildcats. During those last few years, he ruffled the feathers of many Kentucky fans off the court with comments he made and distancing himself more and more from the fan base that adored him for the majority of his time in Lexington.

On top of that, Calipari is now coaching an SEC rival. That is enough to warrant some boos on its own.

The flip side of the argument holds weight, too. John Calipari gave Kentucky fans a memorable ride, particularly from 2009 to 2019. That stretch included a national championship, multiple Final Four appearances, and a plethora of awesome memories.

On top of that, Calipari did a lot of good for the state of Kentucky off-the-court, and those actions cannot be discounted.

Regardless, the fan base seems pretty split on how they’ll react and this isn’t a situation where there’s a clear answer on how a fan base should act.

If you’re going to the game (or if you’re not), how will you/would you react to John Calipari’s return to Rupp? Cheer or boo?