Two dominant teams meet in the national championship, with the result leaving a lasting impact on each programs’ legacy.John Calipari is finalizing a five-year deal to become the next coach at Arkansas, sources told ESPN on Sunday night, a blockbuster move that will shake up the SEC and college basketball landscape.
The deal is expected to be completed in the next 24 hours.
Calipari is the second-highest-paid coach in the country at Kentucky, earning more than $8.5 million per year. Arkansas is believed to have offered Ole Miss’ Chris Beard in the neighborhood of $5 million when it pursued him following Eric Musselman’s decision last week to leave for USC, sources told ESPN.
A year after a stunning Final Four defeat that ended what could have been a perfect season and national championship run, the South Carolina Gamecocks finished the job Sunday in historic fashion.
South Carolina defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes 87-75 in the women’s NCAA tournament title game to become the 10th team in Division I history to complete an undefeated season (38-0), joining UConn (6 times), Baylor (2011-12), Tennessee (1997-98) and Texas (1985-86) as the only programs to achieve such a feat.
