John Calipari on Tuesday announced his departure after 15 seasons at Kentucky, which he called his “dream job.”

The 65-year-old Calipari is expected to be named head basketball coach at Arkansas, though no announcement has yet come from the Razorbacks. Calipari posted a nearly four-minute message via social media on Tuesday, but made no direct mention of Arkansas.

Instead, Calipari reflected on his time at Kentucky, which included 410 wins, six SEC championships, four Final Fours and the 2012 NCAA tournament title.

“It’s been a beautiful time for us,” Calipari said. “This is a dream job. It was my dream job. Anybody in our profession looks at the University of Kentucky in basketball and says that is the bluest of blue.

“The last few weeks, we’ve come to realize that this program probably needs to hear another voice, that the university as a whole has to have another voice, giving guidance about this program that they hear, and the fans need to hear another voice. We’ve loved it here, but we think it’s time for us to step away and step away completely from the program.”

Though Kentucky continues to finish near the top of the NCAA standings send multiple players to the NBA each season, Calipari has been under fire in recent years for his team’s lack of postseason success. However, the Wildcats have won just one NCAA tournament game since 2019, and have not reached a Final Four in nine years.

Kentucky has endured two first-round NCAA tournament losses to double-digit seeds in the last three seasons, falling to No. 15 St. Peter’s as a No. 2 seed in 2022 and to No. 14 Oakland as a 3 this year. A first-round victory over No. 11 Providence in 2023 is the Wildcats’ lone NCAA tournament win in the last five years.

Nevertheless, Kentucky athletics director Mitch Barnhart said on March 27 that Calipari — one of the highest paid coaches in college basketball at more than $8.5 million per year — would be back for the 2024-25 season. Something changed in the interim, however.

“We’re appreciative of John Calipari leading our program for the last 15 years, adding to the legacy of championship success at Kentucky,” Barnhart said via Twitter/X on Tuesday. “We’re grateful to John for his many contributions to the University, and our state, both on and off the court.

“We are working diligently to hire a proven, highly dedicated coach who embraces the importance of this program to our fans and the state of Kentucky.”

Arkansas, which lost coach Eric Musselman to USC last week, is expected to pay Calipari more than $8 million on a 5-year deal. However, his budget for NIL is likely to exceed that he had at Kentucky, according to multiple reports.

Arkansas reached the Elite Eight in both 2021 and 2022 and the Sweet 16 in 2023 under Musselman, but finished 16-17 and out of the postseason this year. The Razorbacks went to three Final Fours under Nolan Richardson in the 1990s, winning the national championship in 1994 and reaching the NCAA title game in 1995.

“There have been opportunities that have been presented to us,” Calipari said. “So we’re discussing them as a family. I love coaching. I love coaching young people. I love this year’s team I loved every day walking in. They’ve invigorated me.

“I love the chase for championships. I love bringing the kids together it’s what I do. It’s who I am.”

Calipari has 813 victories overall in 32 years as head coach at UMass, Memphis and Kentucky. He also reached the NCAA tournament title game with both the Minutemen in 1996 and the Jayhawks in 2008, but both those finishes were vacated due to NCAA sanctions.