Screen grab: John Calipari on X
By Ben Axelrod on

On Monday, John Calipari made the worst-kept secret in college basketball official by announcing his departure from the University of Kentucky.

Once the national championship-winning head coach announces his impending move to Arkansas, one can only hope that he’ll be able to buy a new cell phone as well.

That’s because if his video saying farewell to Big Blue Nation is any indication, the 65-year-old Calipari is in desperate need of an upgrade. In fact, it’s possible he hasn’t purchased a new cell phone since the Wildcats won their most recent national championship in 2012, as the video quality appeared to be somewhere between a Motorola RAZR and an early model Blackberry.

Calipari would quickly delete the post and re-upload a high-definition version of the same video, so it would appear that his cell phone is actually just fine and there was merely some sort of error made while posting it. In any event, many were quick to make light of the initial low-quality version of his farewell.

Considering the messy nature of Calipari departing Kentucky for an SEC rival, perhaps keeping the low-quality version would have been the more appropriate metaphor.

[John Calipari on X]

About Ben Axelrod

Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.

View all posts by Ben Axelrod