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ARLINGTON — Both Kentucky coach John Calipari and UK athletics director Mitch Barnhart denied a rumor started by former Kentucky star Rex Chapman that Calipari leaving to coach the Los Angeles Lakers was a “done deal.”
That’s the message Chapman posted on Twitter before UK lost 60-54 to Connecticut here Monday night in the national championship game.
“The Lakers have a basketball coach. Kentucky has a basketball coach. I got the best job in the country. I'm not going to even dignify that stuff,” said Calipari during his postgame press conference.
The Lakers also denied having any conversations with Calipari, who coached the New Jersey Nets before he was fired early in his third season. Los Angeles coach Mike D’Antoni has another year left on his contract with the Lakers.
Barnhart said he “for sure” expected Calipari back coaching at UK next season.
“He and I are tied at the hip sort of contractually. We both have the same number of years left (on contracts at UK). We are both 55 and we will sort of see how it goes but I certainly anticipate that,” Barnhart said. “I don’t have much reaction (to rumors). I have been at it to react.
“I want him to know I love him. I certainly want him to be our coach at Kentucky. He knows how special he is to this program at Kentucky. The fans certainly have let him know he is a special part of Kentucky history.”
"You go day-to-day with people and you trust what they do. I've been with Cal five years now. I think I know him fairly well, and if there's anything I need to be concerned about, we'd have those conversations. And we haven't had those conversations."
Calipari has taken UK to three Final Fours in the last four years and four Elite Eights in his five years at UK. He won the national title in 2012.
“It has been incredibly special. A lot of special moments in his five years and I don’t expect it to end,” Barnhart said. “We have more players coming in next year. We have some guys that will come back and be part of this program that will continue to grow.
“Kentucky is a very special place and we all know that. There are very few places like it pro or college in the deal. We are very, very proud to be part of the program and very proud that he is our coach.”
Barnhart admitted the timing of Chapman’s information was a bit disconcerting, especially since he is a former UK player and even worked the special “homer” telecast on TNT of UK’s semifinal game with Wisconsin Saturday with WKYT-TV’s Rob Bromley and Dave Baker.
“I think timing is difficult. I am thankful that I don’t think the players caught wind ... yeah, it is just something that was probably not the time or place. But it is what it is and in the world of social media, those things happen,” Barnhart said. “I am happy for our team and would rather focus on that tonight.
“Again, I am really proud of their effort and very, very proud of Cal for what he did to get us to this spot. We were pretty close. Six points away, or seven points away, from a championship. It was an exciting run for our guys.”
Kentucky players did confirm what Barnhart thought when they said they had not heard the rumors.
“I don’t know anything about that,” James Young said.
"People are always going to have rumors about this team and people are always saying stuff, but it doesn't really affect us,” Andrew Harrison said.
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