Following the end of the 2023-24 Kentucky basketball season, UK Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart and Head Coach John Calipari got together for their annual, off-season meeting.
Following said meeting, Barnhart posted a statement confirming Coach Calipari will return for his 16th season with the program.
As we normally do at the end of every season, Coach Calipari and I have had conversations about the direction of our men’s basketball program and I can confirm that he will return for his 16th season as our head coach.
— Mitch Barnhart (@UKMitchBarnhart) March 27, 2024
BBN Tonight anchor Keith Farmer sat down exclusively with the pair to discuss that meeting, their plans for the future of the program, and the state of their own relationship:
“He’s going his way 200 days a year; I’m going my way 200 days a year,” Calipari started with a laugh.
“That’s a little bit of the misinformation out there,” Barnhart interjected. “I say this jokingly and seriously: he’s been married 40-plus years and I’ve been married 40-plus years. We know how to manage relationships. I think we’ve been together for 15, so we’re sort of like semi-married."
“You ever had an argument with your wife?,” Calipari poked.
“Just occasionally. I think you and I have, too!," Barnhart responded.
“Do you always agree?”
“No we don’t always agree, and that’s part of the deal."
“We agree to disagree!," Calipari added.
“To his point, that is part of this deal,” Barnhart said. “This notion that we have no relationship and stuff like that is garbage. The way we’ve gotten through 15 years has been pretty good. We’ve had our highs and lows, and we’ve had some things that haven’t gone exactly the way we wanted to, but by and large, I’m sitting next to the guy I brought here 15 years ago. We’ve been together just fine.”
We appreciate everyone’s attention as we’ve had conversations the last few days. Coach Cal and I look forward to discussing more tonight on @LEX18News and @BBNTonight pic.twitter.com/6szPAHgFiy
— Mitch Barnhart (@UKMitchBarnhart) March 27, 2024
As far as the meeting itself?
“One of the things I’ve said about the meeting is Mitch saying, 'how can I help you? What can we do to help you get where you’re trying to get this thing?,'" Calipari told Farmer. "We talked about three or four things, but when you’re coaching, that’s important stuff.”
“Cal’s averaged 27 wins a year since he’s been here. We got to a spot this year, [where] we had some incredible victories and then we get to March and we stubbed our toe a little bit. There’s no mystery in that," Barnhart said. "We’ve had a couple of times down the stretch that we want to be better in March - there’s no mystery in that, either. Our fans know what the standard is; we know what the standard is."
Hear from Mitch Barnhart and John Calipari tonight at 7:30 on @LEX18News.
— BBN Tonight (@BBNTonight) March 27, 2024
Not local to Lexington? Watch on LEX 18's Facebook page, the LEX 18 app, and https://t.co/oRthhdOUNs. pic.twitter.com/Q44Kuc0KwK
Both Barnhart and Calipari acknowledge their disappointment in how past seasons have ended, adding that hanging banners is and always will be one of the cornerstones of this program.
“It’s not that we don’t know how to get there, [but] we’ve hit a patch where we haven’t, and that is not lost on us,” Barnhart said. “He and I are a little bit competitive - we certainly like to win. That has been in our DNA from the beginning of his career and mine. We didn't come to this program to sit here and say: let’s casually sit here and sashay all the way to the end of the deal. I want to win.”
Barnhart and Calipiari also went in-depth on potential changes moving forward, the program’s approach to the postseason, how they’d each ideally like to end their respective careers, and their message to the fan base.
For more on Kentucky basketball and all of the Wildcats, watch BBN Tonight weeknights at 7:30 p.m. on LEX 18 News, the LEX 18 app or on BBNTonight.com
