The week of John Calipari’s departure from Kentucky and acceptance of the Arkansas job was one of the biggest stories in sports, so much so that it overshadowed the Final Four.

Details have slowly leaked out in the months since, but Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yuracheck provided the most detailed story of events so far during a speaking event in Little Rock.

According to Yurachek, Calipari arranged for a man with a “black Phillies hat” to meet him out front of the Hilton hotel he was staying at in Phoenix. In what is described as a mobster-esque scene, the anonymous man provided Yurachek with a key card during a handshake, and whispered to him the room number, “523”.

Yurachek says after a few hours of talking with Calipari about Arkansas’ open men’s basketball coaching position and discussing other candidates, he posed the question, “Why not you?”

While the offer was not presented on paper, a verbal offer was made and discussions of prospective employment did take place. This was possibly (for legal reasons) a breach of Calipari’s contract at Kentucky as he did not inform Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart, prior to or after the meeting with Yurachek, according to reports.

During the term of this Agreement, Coach [Calipari] shall notify the Director of Athletics [Barnhart] of any offers of employment, employment opportunities or requests for meetings or discussions with respect to possible employment opportunities before engaging in substantive discussions regarding such employment or employment opportunities.

On April 9th, Calipari resigned from his position at Kentucky, forfeiting $33 million that he would be owed in a buyout, and was introduced as the head coach of the Razorbacks the following day.

This probably isn’t the first situation like this, nor will it be the last. However, it is likely a story the Calipari didn’t want to be said out loud.

A crazy turn of events.

The Kentucky basketball team is set to shoot a lot of three-pointers this season under Mark Pope and his offense. This summer, assistant Cody Feuger went as far as to say he wants to see the Wildcats attempt 35 threes per game. For context, North Florida led the nation in three-point attempts last year with 33.2.

To shoot that many threes, you need a lot of good shooters on the roster and the Kentucky added several this offseason. A lot of talk has been on freshman Travis Perry, but the Wildcats added Dayton transfer Koby Brea, who shot a nation-leading 49.8% from three last season on 201 attempts.

With proven ELITE shooting ability at the collegiate level, it should come as no surprise that Brea was listed as the top shooter in the nation going into the 2024-25 season, by Andy Katz.

Brea is excited to see what he can do in Mark Pope’s offense, which he cited as the reason he transferred to Kentucky.

“That was the biggest draw for me. I was probably coming here just to see how perfect the system was for me,” said Brea during summer interviews. “Coach Pope did a great job of explaining to me where I can excel in the offense, the hit system in general, and the defensive system as well.”

Kentucky has already landed two top 30 players in the 2025 recruiting cycle in big man Malachi Moreno and combo guard Jasper Johnson, who are both from the surrounding Lexington area. The staff also have their eyes on another top guard in the 2025 class, four-star combo guard Acaden Lewis who attends Sidwell Friends School in Washington, DC. 

The staff including head coach Mark Pope, assistants coaches Alvin Brooks, Cody Feuger and Jason Hart, all made the trip to DC to visit with the speedy and athletic guard and his family on Monday.

It was “super cool” Lewis’ father told KY Insider. He talked about the staff looking to make a genuine connection and was very impressed that they visited them at the Trinidad Recreation Center, one of the rough parts of the DMV.

It has been questioned if Pope would bring in two top players at the same position, and especially so with Jasper Johnson’s recent commitment. With a full staff visit, it is clear that he wants to. While talking to Lewis and his family, the Kentucky staff pitched that the two guards’ could co-exist. Explaining that Lewis’ point guard skills complement Johnson’s scoring abilities, putting shooters and playmaking bigs around them.

With a 6-2, 170-pound frame Lewis is one of the more dynamic guards in the country. Having the ability to operate effectively as a true point guard, he can also score via an improved jump shot or with some creativity around the rim. To add, he has real toughness and swagger to his game.

A commitment could be looming as Lewis plans to commit before he signs his NLI in November during the early signing period. Lewis is down to eight schools including Michigan, Kentucky, Syracuse, Duke, UCONN, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Auburn with visits to be scheduled soon as well. Both sides are working to get Lewis in for a visit this fall.