Arkansas is expected to make a splash hire to fulfill it’s men’s basketball coaching vacancy as the Razorbacks are expected to hire John Calipari away from Kentucky, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported late Sunday night.

Per Thamel’s report, a five-year deal between Arkansas and Calipari is expected to be finalized in the next 24 hours.

Should Thamel’s report ring true, Calipari would be leaving the University of Kentucky after 15 seasons to replace Eric Musselman, who recently left Arkansas to become the next head coach at the University of Southern California.

Since his hiring in 2009, Calipari has compiled a 410-122 (198-65 SEC) record with the Wildcats. Under his leadership, Kentucky has tallied six SEC regular season titles, six SEC tournament titles and has made four Final Four appearances.

In 2012, Calipari helped the Wildcats capture their eighth national championship.

This past season, Kentucky was bounced early in the NCAA Tournament after a first-round loss to 14-seed Oakland. This year’s tournament loss came on the heels of the 2022-23 season, in which the Wildcats fell to 15-seed Saint Peter’s in the first round.

Following Kentucky’s four-point loss to Oakland last month, there was plenty of speculation about whether Calipari would return to Lexington — so much speculation that Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart felt the need to make a statement confirming Calipari’s return as Kentucky’s head basketball coach.

Should Calipari had been fired, Kentucky would’ve owed him a buyout north of $33 million.

Calipari is currently the second-highest-paid coach in the country, raking in more than $8.5 million a year.