Arkansas men’s basketball has hired a basketball coach with a national championship and six Final Fours to his name.
Vanderbilt hired a coach who led James Madison to its first March Madness victory in more than four decades.
Kentucky hired a coach who never won an NCAA tournament game.
Remind me who the blue blood is.
Now, I must add context.
John Calipari turned to Arkansas only after his seat was microwaved in Kentucky. Their national championship took place more than a decade ago. His dynamite success early in his UK tenure has given way in recent years to repeated disappointments on the opening weekend of March Madness.
Regardless, I’m awarding Arkansas the top marks from the latest spin of the SEC coaching carousel.
Here’s how I evaluate the conference’s three men’s basketball signings:
Arkansas-John Calipari
Grade A-
Upon leaving Kentucky, Calipari called coaching the Wildcats “a dream.” The first half of his tenure really qualified as such for the Big Blue Nation. The pinnacle of Calipari’s career can be seen in his rearview mirror, which shouldn’t rain on Arkansas’ parade.
If Calipari’s Wildcats remained elite, a coach of his caliber would not be available for Arkansas. Calipari has become that perfect combination of affordable yet attractive.
He will galvanize Arkansas donors, galvanize the fan base and attract top-tier talent. If he feels even more motivated to stay at Kentucky, all the better for Arkansas.
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There’s a risk Calipari sees this job as one last paycheck while he takes a hot bath with a glass of merlot and prepares for retirement. I don’t think that’s the case, though. If all he wanted was another payday, he could have waited for Kentucky for the substantial buyout that would have been owed to him if UK had fired him next year.
The fact that he’s willing to restart at Arkansas tells me he’s motivated to take the Razorbacks to the heights he raised at Kentucky, Memphis and UMass. However, Calipari needs to evolve to the modern methods of college basketball. For starters, he should embrace transfers more fully.
And it remains a magnet for talent. If he can take UMass to the Final Four, he can do it at Arkansas.
Kentucky – Mark Pope
Grade: C
I never thought Kentucky would take Billy Donovan out of the NBA. Even Baylor’s Scott Drew seemed like a long shot. But if you had told me upfront that Kentucky would replace Calipari with a guy who has never won an NCAA Tournament, I wouldn’t have believed you.
Let’s start with the good side of this signing: the Wildcats anointed one of their own. This job comes with relentless expectations, and Pope comes to Lexington no stranger to those demands, having been captain of the 1995-96 team that won a national championship.
Kentucky fans recovered from any initial disappointment with the signing to give Pope an enthusiastic, full-house reception at his introductory press conference. He will be a breath of fresh air to a stagnant program. He effectively transitioned BYU from the West Coast Conference to the Big 12. His offense promises to provide a barrage of 3-point attempts.
Now for the reasons for concern: What evidence do we have that Pope will thrive in the UK? Calipari and Rick Pitino arrived at Kentucky with much more sophisticated resumes. I don’t expect Pope to have led BYU to a Final Four, but I think he should beat Duquesne in March Madness. In his two NCAA appearances, his BYU teams earned a No. 6 seed and were eliminated by 11 seeds.
This signing could work, but it’s a bigger gamble than I expected Kentucky to take.
Vanderbilt-Mark Byington
note: B
Trading Jerry Stackhouse for Byington is an upgrade. Byington comes with a track record of better performance than his predecessor. He’s never coached a major conference program, but I wouldn’t expect Vanderbilt to attack a successful coach from a big brand. It was necessary to move to the intermediate category, and Byington is a valid option.
James Madison won the Sun Belt in Byington’s second season, and the Dukes were a high-scoring group. Vanderbilt needs some excitement for a program that has been in free fall for years.
Among Byington’s 32 wins last season, his Dukes beat Michigan State and Wisconsin. Vanderbilt can’t expect much more than that.
Blake Toppmeyer is an SEC columnist for the USA TODAY Network. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer.
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This article originally appeared in the Nashville Tennessean: Ranking SEC basketball signings from John Calipari to Mark Pope
