Kentucky’s Trophy Case Under John Calipari Is Nearly Empty

Kentucky’s John Calipari ($8.6M) is the second-highest-paid coach in college basketball behind Kansas’ Bill Self ($10.2M).

On Thursday, he was out-coached by Saint Peter’s Shaheen Holloway — who for reference brought in $266,344 in 2019.

The 85-79 overtime upset was just the 10th time in NCAA men’s tournament history that a 15-seed knocked off a No. 2 — and represents another disappointing March Madness exit for Calipari.

The 63-year-old has been to just four Final Fours and won a single title (2012) in 13 seasons helming the consistently talented Wildcats.

• Calipari has coached 32 first-round NBA draft picks, including John Wall, Anthony Davis, and Devin Booker — all of whom were one-and-dones.
• He’s produced seven NBA All-Stars with a combined $842.1 million in career earnings.
• This year’s Kentucky roster features three players projected to be drafted: Shaedon Sharpe, TyTy Washington, and Oscar Tshiebwe.

Sharpe — the No. 1 recruit in the 2022 class — reclassified to 2021 and is actually eligible for this year’s draft despite never playing a minute for Kentucky, taking the one-and-done concept to a whole new level.

Meanwhile, the Peacocks, who have four upperclassmen in their starting five, will continue to try to survive and advance against Murray State (-8.5*) on Saturday.