LEXINGTON — When John Calipari left for Arkansas after 15 seasons guiding the Kentucky basketball program, a train of thought emerged the Wildcats‘ player alumni might fracture.
The line of thinking went: Calipari’s former players no longer would claim any loyalty to UK, instead casting their lot with their coach — and by extension, his new team, the Razorbacks.
John Wall refused to let that come to pass.
“Well, I think a lot of people didn’t think I would still come back after Coach Cal left,” Wall said Saturday night at Rupp Arena during an interview on SEC Network+, shortly after he appeared alongside UK’s new coach, Mark Pope, at the program’s Big Blue Madness event. “And like I said, this is the school I played for. Yes, Cal was my coach. I love Cal to death.
“But this is a school that gave me the opportunity to get a D-I scholarship and reach my ultimate goal to play college basketball.”
A consensus first-team All-America honoree and the SEC Player of the Year in 2009-10, Wall was part of the first team of the Calipari era in Lexington. The lightning quick, 6-foot-3 Wall went on to become the No. 1 pick in the 2010 NBA Draft by the Washington Wizards, going on to have a standout pro career in which he was a five-time All-Star and averaged 18.7 points and 8.9 assists per game.
John Wall says a lot of people didn’t think he’d come back when Cal left but he bleeds blue and loves Kentucky. pic.twitter.com/kVlUlNcqmw
— Rare Rookies #BBN (@rarerookies) October 11, 2025
Kentucky, he said, always will be near and dear to him.
“I only played one year,” Wall said, “but it felt like I was here forever.”
Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: John Wall returns for Big Blue Madness even after John Calipari’s exit
