When did John Calipari leave UMass? Revisiting Wildcat HC's coaching career

A generation of UMass fans don't remember when John Calipari coached the Minutemen. Since leaving UMass, Calipari’s coaching career has taken him to the NBA, Memphis, before finally bringing him to Kentucky. Yet, his tenure at UMass remains remarkable, for his career and in the program.

How long ago was this? And when exactly did Calipari make the switch from UMass to the NBA?

When did John Calipari leave UMass?

John Calipari left UMass in 1996. He left the program he had coached for eight seasons to replace Butch Beard at the New Jersey Nets. Calipari was an assistant coach at Kansas and Pittsburgh before getting his first head coaching role under UMass in 1988. Being untested in that role, hiring him was a big risk for UMass. However, it paid off.

Calipari’s first couple of seasons at UMass was not so remarkable. However, starting in 1992, he transformed the Minutemen into a consistently dominant team in college hoops. In 1992, he led the team to a 30-5 overall record and a berth in the Sweet 16. That season, he was named the Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year.

From 1992 until his exit in 1996, Calipari won five straight Atlantic 10 regular-season championships and tournaments. The UMass basketball program became the second program in history to win five straight conference regular-season championships and tournaments after NC State.

Highlights of his tenure at UMass include leading the Minutemen to a victory over defending national champions, North Carolina in the 1993 pre-season NIT. Another highlight was a victory over defending national champions Arkansas in the 1994 Hall of Fame Tip-Off classic.

In his final season at UMass, Calipari was named national coach of the year by multiple platforms. These include Naismith, NABC, Basketball Times and Sporting News.

Outside his athletic achievements, Calipari helped complete the Minutemen’s basketball and hockey facility, the Mullins Center. He left UMass with a 193-71 record, becoming the program’s second winningest coach after Jack Leaman.

Calipari’s time at UMass undoubtedly shot him into national fame and gave him the reputation of being an excellent coach. He has gone on to reinforce that reputation at other jobs, with the Basketball Hall of Fame induction to show for it.