Here's how much Kentucky would owe John Calipari if it wants to hire a new coach

If you’re a Kentucky fan and you’re hoping to move on from the John Calipari era of Wildcats basketball, you might want to sit down.

After another underwhelming March Madness appearance with a loss to 14 seed Oakland, Calipari is now firmly on the hot seat after 15 seasons leading one of the most prominent programs in college basketball.

Calipari hasn’t taken Kentucky past the Elite Eight since the 2015 men’s NCAA tournament and has lost twice in the first round in the last three tournaments, including 2021’s loss to 15 seed St. Peter’s.

However, thanks to the 10-year contract that Kentucky gave Calipari back in 2019, the school would reportedly owe Calipari more than $33 million dollars to buy out his contract through a firing, per CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein.

REMINDER: John Calipari's current buyout at Kentucky is $33,375,000.

He's going to be Kentucky's head coach unless someone paid him just south of $34 MILLION DOLLARS. https://t.co/dracynRhe1

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) March 22, 2024

That is a lot of money to fire a coach, which is probably why Kentucky will ultimately stomach yet another March Madness misfire and keep Calipari on for the 2024-25 season.

Losing to Oakland stings, but firing your coach and paying more than $30 million to do so stings even more.