NCAA Basketball: 10 coaches that may get fired or leave after 2022-23 season

John Calipari – Kentucky Wildcats

There’s a case to be made that John Calipari is the best coach of the modern NCAA Basketball era with as much as he’s accomplished with the Wildcats and other programs. At Kentucky alone, he has four Final Four appearances, as well as a national championship in 2012. Of course, that also means that expectations are sky-high down in Lexington, and in the past few years, it hasn’t gone well.

The program missed the NCAA Tournament in 2021 after a 9-win season that was a complete disaster. Thanks to National Player of the Year Oscar Tshiebwe, they were a 2-seed last year but lost to Saint Peter’s in the first round. This year, they’re firmly on the bubble, with a legit chance to miss out on the NCAA Tournament once again if things don’t change in the next couple of weeks.

The program isn’t going to fire Calipari after giving him nine lives worth of contract extensions. But there could be a mutual viewpoint that things have gotten stale and that a change of scenery could be good for both sides. There were earlier reports of back-channel talks between the coach and Texas, who fired Chris Beard earlier this year and has an opening at the moment.

What happens in the next month may ultimately decide Calipari’s future. They have a No. 1 incoming recruiting class for the following year but if they miss the NCAA Tournament, the fan base is going to be livid. And if Texas comes with a big offer, it could be a perfect landing spot for him if he wanted to leave Kentucky.