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Arkansas has officially hired John Calipari as its men’s basketball coach.
Calipari signed a five-year contract with a salary beginning at $7 million per season, according to the school. The deal contains two automatic rollover years for NCAA tournament appearances that would extend the contract to 2031, and also includes a $1 million signing bonus and $500,000 retention bonuses.
The university announced the hiring Wednesday after days of negotiations with Calipari, who spent the past 15 seasons at Kentucky.
Calipari led Kentucky to the national title in 2012 and went to four Final Fours in his first six seasons in Lexington. Kentucky then went to the Elite Eight in 2017 and 2019 but has won just one NCAA tournament game since that last run to the regional final.
“By all accounts, John Calipari is one of the premier coaches in college basketball,” Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek said in a statement. “A national championship coach, a four-time national coach of the year and one of the nation’s top recruiters, Coach Cal has consistently demonstrated his ability to attract outstanding talent and build championship teams within the Southeastern Conference and position his programs among the best in the nation.”
An introductory news conference is scheduled for Wednesday evening in Fayetteville.
Calipari, 65, replaces Eric Musselman and inherits a program that went 16-17 last season after three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, including the Sweet 16 a year ago.
ESPN’s Jeff Borzello and The Associated Press contributed to this report.