John Calipari’s lawyer has receipts.
Tom Mars, Calipari’s lawyer, shot down a report stating the former Kentucky coach and new Arkanasas coach had asked the school to match Arkansas’ reported offer, only to be be told it would not do so.
He even attached a text message allegedly from someone within the athletic department.
“That’s odd,” Mars said in a tweet responding to an X post aggregating the report from Dick Gabriel, a Kentucky sports radio personality.
“Dick’s reporting doesn’t seem to align with the text message I received as Coach Cal’s lawyer from KY Athletics at 1:22 pm ET, which said: ‘We are hearing cal made us a counter offer??? That was never received by us.’”
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Mars then included the screenshot, captioned: “For the benefit of any doubters.”
In said exchange, the Kentucky source texts: “Anything new? We are hearing cal made us a counter offer??? That was never received by (Kentucky athletic director) Mitch (Barnhart) or I.”
Mars responds, “Counteroffer to what?”, to which the source replies: “Exactly! Sheesh.”
It’s been a wild week for Kentucky and Arkansas as Calipari bolted the blue blood program and officially joined SEC rival Arkansas on Wednesday, the team announced.
John Calipari is no longer the Kentucky head coach. Sam Upshaw Jr. / Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK Calipari reportedly started to feel unwanted as fans turned on him following another early NCAA Tournament exit, courtesy of Oakland this time, and he has ties to Arkansas billionaire booster and Tyson Foods chairman John H. Tyson.
Before Calipari officially announced Tuesday afternoon he would be leaving Kentucky, Gabriel reported that Kentucky had a chance to keep the one-time champion coach but passed on the opportunity.
“Calipari, going into that meeting with Mitch Barnhart, didn’t have much leverage. Mitch had the leverage,” Gabriel said. “Calipari, as I’m told, said, ‘Here’s what it’s going to take to keep me’ and UK said, ‘I don’t think so.’ As I understand it, if the deal isn’t done, it’s going to be done.”
That report paints a much different picture than Calipari leaving on his own accord, and Mars offered his client’s version roughly an hour after Calipari’s announcement via a video on X.
Late Wednesday night, Gabriel said he received incorrect information.
“Clarification about a comment I made on KET: I should not have made it sound like there was a ‘counter offer’ situation,” Gabriel posted. “I did a poor job of saying UK was aware of what Arkansas was offering, but to make it sound like Calipari sought a counter-offer was inaccurate. My apologies.”
University of Kentucky Director of Athletics Mitch Barnhart watches an NCAA college football game between Kentucky and Mississippi State on Oct. 15, 2022. AP Calipari received a five-year deal with Arkansas, according to ESPN, leaving the Wildcats searching for a new leader of one of the premier programs in the sport.
The Wildcats have already publicly been turned down by UConn’s Dan Hurley, Alabama’s Nate Oats and former Villanova coach turned television analyst Jay Wright.
Bulls coach Billy Donovan, a “home-run” candidate according to ESPN, said he is committed to his current role.
Baylor’s Scott Drew, who won a national title in 2021, has been rumored as a potential fit.
