It is a sign of the times. Nothing gold can stay, and nothing great lasts forever. For as strong of a run as John Calipari had leading Kentucky for the better part of two decades, things did not end on the best of terms between him and outgoing athletic director Mitch Barnhart... As expected, Calipari has quickly found success at Arkansas. He just led the Razorbacks to an SEC Tournament Championship.
Of course, two of his former Kentucky players were elated for him. The first was DeMarcus Cousins.
Coach Cal the Don! Like I said before put some respect on it…🐐
— DeMarcus Cousins (@boogiecousins) March 15, 2026
Cousins' former Kentucky teammate John Wall responded in his praise of Calipari with his own on X.
Yessir ‼️
— John Wall (@JohnWall) March 15, 2026
Cousins and Wall were early stars during Calipari's run in Lexington. While they did not win a national championship during their one-and-done season with the Wildcats, they helped set the tone for the Anthony Davis-led team that followed in 2012, as well as the one led by Karl-Anthony Towns, Devin Booker, and Willie Cauley-Stein in 2015. That half-decade run under Calipari was his peak leading UK.
Of course, the Tyson Family paid a boat load to bring Calipari to Fayetteville, and the rest is history...
Kentucky fans cannot love seeing former UK stars praising John Calipari
Although they are in different regions in this year's NCAA Tournament bracket, Mark Pope's Wildcats will have more than their hands full in trying to get back to the Sweet 16. Kentucky is a No. 7 seed this year in the Midwest Region, while SEC Tournament champion Arkansas is the No. 4 seed in the West Region. Conceivably, both schools could face each other in the Final Four, but let's not count on this...
Admittedly, it is a very strange situation all parties involved find themselves in. Obviously, Cousins and Wall will always go to bat for Calipari because he was their college head coach. Truth be told, if we saw former Memphis star Derrick Rose or former UMass star Marcus Camby heaping this kind of praise on Calipari, it would be an easier pill to swallow. However, these wounds are still fresh for UK.
Ultimately, there might be another thing in play here when it comes to all this Calipari praise from former Kentucky stars. Arkansas is an excellent team in the SEC, but everybody and their brother thought Florida was going to win the SEC Tournament. The Gators fell in the semifinals to Vanderbilt, who in turn fell to Arkansas in the SEC championship. Florida was a heavy favorite to win its league.
No matter how you slice it, the social media commentary from Cousins and Wall has to sting a bit.