FAYETTEVILLE -- John Calipari is 65, but Jimmy Dykes said the basketball coach he's observed at Kentucky the past 15 years is far from ready to retire.
"I watch every SEC coach work in practice the day before a game, the day of a game, offseason practices, and there's no one in the SEC that has better energy than Cal," said Dykes, an analyst for ESPN and the SEC Network. "He's a young 65. He takes care of himself, he's a great communicator with his players.
"I don't see any sign at all that he's wanting to coast right now."
That's good news for the University of Arkansas, which announced Calipari as its new coach Wednesday and signed him to a five-year contract. His annual base salary will be $7 million.
"He's not coming to Arkansas to collect a big paycheck and to just finish it out," Dykes said. "I've known him a long time, and I'm telling you, that's not how he's wired."
Calipari's on-court record in 32 seasons as a college coach is 855-263.
"I think Cal comes to Arkansas to prove he's ready to do it one more time," Dykes said of Calipari repeating the success he had at Massachusetts, Memphis and Kentucky. "I think Arkansas will get the very best version of John Calipari, and his best is as good as anyone out there."
Calipari has led his teams to six Final Four appearances -- four at Kentucky, including the national championship in 2012, and one each at Massachusetts and Memphis.
"Cal will hit the ground running 100 miles per hour," Dykes said. "He'll have a roster within a month that people are talking about.
"Arkansas is going to be a major player in his first year."
Dykes said he's not concerned the Razorbacks currently have no scholarship players returning or committed to the program.
"I think having no players is a plus for Cal," Dykes said. "He can literally go get every guy he wants to build that roster.
"He may only end up with 10 or 11 guys because of the NIL money and how he can divide that up.
"But I think it's a perfect scenario for him. He's not inheriting anybody. He can build the roster exactly how he wants and have as many players as he feels he needs for that first year."
Dykes, a former Razorback player and coach of the UA women's team, said he believes the move from Kentucky to Arkansas will invigorate Calipari.
"I think it's a great fit for him right now," Dykes said. "I think he was at a point in his career, honestly, where he needed a new start, a new challenge. New energy, new juice."
Calipari is 16-9 as an opposing coach against Arkansas, including 2-0 at Massachusetts, 1-2 at Memphis and 13-7 at Kentucky.
"When the Arkansas job came open, Cal was one of the first thoughts I had, because he's always had a respect and admiration for Bud Walton Arena and the Arkansas fan base," Dykes said. "Every time I've ever talked to Cal in the last 15 years when he was Kentucky and he's talking about getting ready to play Arkansas, or maybe I'd have one of his games right after he played Arkansas, he would always talk about impressed he was with Bud Walton Arena and the sold-out crowd and how passionate the fans are here."
Arkansas can't match Kentucky's eight national championships and 17 Final Fours in 62 NCAA Tournament appearances, but the Razorbacks won the 1994 national title and have been to six Final Fours in 35 NCAA Tournaments appearances.
Eric Musselman, who left Arkansas after five seasons as coach to take the Southern Cal job, led the Razorbacks to NCAA Tournament Elite Eight appearances in 2021 and 2022 and the Sweet 16 in 2023 before this season's team finished 16-17.
"Obviously, Cal's coming from the mountaintop at Kentucky, but he knows he's stepping into a big-time job at Arkansas," Dykes said. "Seeing what Muss did, Cal knows he's got to come here and make it happen."
News of Calipari being in serious negotiations with Arkansas began breaking Sunday and by Monday it was being widely reported he would be the Razorbacks' coach.
"There's really only two or three names Arkansas could have hired that would have stolen the headlines from the solar total eclipse and the UConn-Purdue national championship game, and Cal did it," Dykes said. "He was the story [Monday], not those two events. One of them happens once every 50 years and the other happens once a year, and Cal was the big story."
Calipari was 31-9 in NCAA Tournament games at Kentucky from 2010 through 2018, but the Wildcats are 1-3 since 2019 and missed the NCAA Tournament in 2021 when they finished 9-16.
"No one dominated college basketball like Cal did the first 10 years of his time at Kentucky," Dykes said. "The last five years, they have not met the standard of Kentucky basketball in the NCAA Tournament.
"They've won only one NCAA Tournament game since 2019, and that standard is not good enough for Kentucky basketball -- and it's not good enough for Arkansas either."
Dykes said he expects Arkansas will play in the NCAA Tournament every year Calipari is the coach.
"Once you're in there, it's an absolute crapshoot," Dykes said. "But a guy like Cal, he knows the formula it takes to get to the national championship game.
"You trust that and then hope things fall your way in March Madness. It's a hard, hard tournament to win, and advance in.
"But Cal has done it before and you're going to have as good a talent as anybody out there. You just hope the bracket breaks your way and you find yourself in the Final Four with a chance to win another national championship for Arkansas."
CALIPARI YEAR-BY-YEAR
COLLEGE
MASSACHUSETTS (1988-96)
YEAR RECORD
1988-89..................................................10-18
1989-90..................................................17-14
1990-91..................................................20-13
1991-92..................................................30-5*
1992-93..................................................24-7*
1993-94..................................................28-7*
1994-95..................................................29-5*
1995-96................................................31-1%
TOTALS 189-70
MEMPHIS (2000-09)
2000-01..................................................21-15
2001-02....................................................27-9
2002-03..................................................23-7*
2003-04..................................................22-8*
2004-05..................................................22-16
2005-06..................................................33-4*
2006-07..................................................33-4*
2007-08..................................................0-1%
2008-09..................................................33-4*
TOTALS 214-68
KENTUCKY (2009-2024)
2009-10..................................................35-3*
2010-11..................................................29-9*
2011-12..................................................38-2^
2012-13..................................................21-12
2013-14................................................29-11*
2014-15..................................................38-1*
2015-16..................................................27-9*
2016-17..................................................32-6*
2017-18................................................26-11*
2018-19..................................................30-7*
2019-20..................................................25-6#
2020-21....................................................9-16
2021-22..................................................26-8*
2022-23................................................22-12*
2023-24................................................23-10*
TOTALS 410-123
OVERALL (ON-COURT RECORD) 855-263
OVERALL (RECOGNIZED BY NCAA) 813-261
NBA
NEW JERSEY NETS (1996-99)
YEAR RECORD
1996-97..................................................26-56
1997-98..................................................43-39
1998-99....................................................3-17
TOTALS 72-112
OVERALL 72-112
^National championship
*NCAA Tournament
#Season canceled by covid-19
%Excludes games later vacated due to NCAA sanctions. Actual on-court records were 35-2 in 1995-96 and 38-2 in 2007-08. NCAA Tournament appearances were also vacated in 1996 and 2008. Calipari’s actual on-court win-loss record overall is 832-253