Arkansas hires John Calipari to coach the Razorbacks, a day after stepping down from Kentucky

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas hired John Calipari as men’s basketball coach on Wednesday, a day after the Hall of Fame coach stepped down from the Kentucky program he led to the 2012 NCAA championship.

The 65-year-old Calipari signed a five-year contract with an annual base salary of $7 million through April 2029 with a maximum of two automatic rollover years for NCAA Tournament appearances that would extend the contract to 2031.

The deal includes a $1 million signing bonus and features retention bonuses of $500,000 each year of the contract along with one-time bonuses for making the NCAA Tournament, reaching the second round, Sweet 16, Final Four and winning a national championship.

Kentucky had been paid Calipari $8.5 million annually.

Calipari is the winningest active coach in men's college basketball, with a career record of 855-263 in stops at Massachusetts, Memphis and Kentucky. He has led his programs to six Final Fours and three national championship games. He has won numerous awards, including AP Coach of the Year in 2015.

Arkansas vice chancellor and director of athletics Hunter Yurachek announced Calipari’s hiring in a news release on Wednesday. Yurachek noted Calipari's reputation as an elite recruiter and success in the Southeastern Conference as contributing factors for the hire.

“As I visited with coach Calipari during this process, he acknowledged the tremendous opportunity we have at the University of Arkansas to attract and retain top players and compete for championships," Yurachek said in a statement.

An introductory news conference is scheduled for Wednesday evening in Fayetteville.

Calipari replaces Eric Musselman, who left for the job at Southern California. Calipari inherits a program that went 16-17 last season after three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, including the Sweet 16 a year ago and the Elite Eight in 2021 and 2022.

Arkansas, like Kentucky, has a rich history. The Razorbacks have been to six Final Fours, won the national title in 1994 and lost in the final in 1995.

Calipari announced that he was stepping down as Kentucky coach on Tuesday, saying in a video that the program “needs to hear another voice.”

He left the Wildcats after going 410-123 in 15 years, including 23-10 this past season. But the past few campaigns have been disappointing by Kentucky standards with a 1-3 mark in its last three NCAA trips, including first-round losses to No. 14 seed Oakland last month and No. 15 seed Saint Peter’s two years ago. The Wildcats were top-three seeds both times.

The most recent NCAA loss set off immediate calls to fire Calipari before athletic director Mitch Barnhart stated soon after that Calipari would return next season. Doing so would’ve triggered a buyout of more than $33 million to dismiss him under the terms of a 10-year, “lifetime” contract signed in 2019.

Money is no longer an issue for Kentucky with Calipari’s announcement and Arkansas’ seismic move that at first glance makes the Razorbacks immediate SEC contenders given the coach’s track record. Kentucky won six conference tournament championships and six regular season titles, though it hasn’t won the tournament title since 2017.

“It was my dream job," Calipari said in the video. "Anybody in our profession looks at the University of Kentucky in basketball and said, ‘that is the bluest of blue.’ The last few weeks we’ve come to realize that this program probably needs to hear another voice that the university as a whole has to have another voice giving guidance about this program that they hear and the fans need to hear.”

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FILE - Kentucky head coach John Calipari talks to reporters during news conference at the NCAA college basketball tournament Friday, March 16, 2018, in Boise, Idaho. Arkansas hired Calipari as their men’s basketball coach, Wednesday,April 10, 2024, one day after the Hall of Fame coach stepped down from the Kentucky program he led to the 2012 NCAA championship. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)

FILE - Kentucky coach John Calipari reacts to a call during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Arkansas, Saturday, March 4, 2023, in Fayetteville, Ark. Arkansas hired Calipari as their men’s basketball coach, Wednesday,April 10, 2024, one day after the Hall of Fame coach stepped down from the Kentucky program he led to the 2012 NCAA championship. (AP Photo/Michael Woods, File)

FILE - Kentucky head coach John Calipari applauds a made free-throw during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Louisville, Saturday, Dec. 31, 2022, in Lexington, Ky. Arkansas hired Calipari as their men’s basketball coach, Wednesday,April 10, 2024, one day after the Hall of Fame coach stepped down from the Kentucky program he led to the 2012 NCAA championship. (AP Photo/James Crisp, File_

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Maalik Murphy threw two touchdown passes and scored the go-ahead TD on a short keeper to help Duke grind past NC State 29-19 on Saturday night.

The Blue Devils (7-3, 3-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) allowed just one touchdown and forced a pair of takeaways, while Todd Pelino had two long field goals in spoiling the Wolfpack's home finale.

“It was a complete performance in all three phases, which it needed to be to win in an environment like this,” Duke coach Manny Diaz said.

Jordan Moore had a leaping 45-yard touchdown grab late in the first quarter to give Duke a 12-0 lead, while Sahmir Hagans had a 9-yard scoring catch early in the fourth to put Duke up 26-12. There was also Murphy using his 6-foot-5, 230-pound frame to push through a goal-line collision for a 3-yard score — his first career rushing TD — to make it 19-12 with 4:37 left in the third.

And Pelino hit from 50 yards out in the first quarter and knocked through a critical 49-yarder with 2:12 left in the fourth to make it a two-possession game.

Otherwise, the game largely belonged to Duke's defense, which set an early tone by smothering Wolfpack freshman quarterback CJ Bailey in the end zone for a safety on NC State's second offensive snap.

Duke also forced a fumble by Bailey on the ensuing possession, then got Terry Moore's interception in the fourth when Bailey's off-target pass for Justin Joly bounced off Joly's hands to Moore to set up Hagans' score.

Bailey threw for 184 yards and a 16-yard touchdown catch to a sliding Wesley Grimes, who got his knees down inbounds on the left side for the fourth-down score that brought the Wolfpack (5-5, 2-4) within 26-19 with 9:01 left.

But the Wolfpack otherwise had to settle for four field goals from Kanoah Vinesett and finished with 268 total yards.

“We were able to get down there (in the red zone) quite a bit,” Wolfpack coach Dave Doeren said. “But you've got to finish.”

Duke: The resilient Blue Devils had already secured bowl eligibility in their first season under Diaz, then ended a two-game losing streak despite finishing with just 276 total yards — 31 on the ground — and going 0 for 9 on third downs.

NC State: The Wolfpack had won at California and then scored 59 points at home in last week's rout of Stanford for the program's biggest-ever output in any ACC game. But nothing came easily Saturday, with NC State converting just 3 of 15 third-down tries while star big-play receiver KC Concepcion had one carry for 4 yards and zero catches.

Wolfpack nickelback Tamarcus Cooley had a huge play by stripping the ball loose from Eli Pancol after Duke had pushed to the 10-yard line in the final minute before halftime, then raced 70 yards the other direction.

Yet reserve tight end Jake Taylor stayed with the play to drag down a tiring Cooley and save a possible touchdown with 6 seconds left. The Wolfpack cashed in with Vinesett's 37-yard field goal to make it 12-9, but Taylor's relentless effort gave Duke its own pre-halftime boost.

Duke: The Blue Devils have an open date before their home finale against Virginia Tech on Nov. 23.

NC State: The Wolfpack's open week awaits, followed by a trip to Atlanta to face Georgia Tech on Nov. 21 for a Thursday matchup.

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Duke's Jordan Moore (8) makes a catch for a touchdown over North Carolina State's Aydan White (3) during the first half of an NCAA college football game in Raleigh, N.C., Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben McKeown)