Tyler Ulis is off to Arkansas

Kentucky Wildcats legend Tyler Ulis will be following John Calipari to Fayetteville.

On the latest episode of Calipari’s podcast, Ways to Win, the former UK head coach revealed that Ulis is joining the Arkansas staff.

“And he’s (Ulis) coming with me to Arkansas,” Cal said.

If you’re a Kentucky fan, the move may put a bad taste in your mouth, but ultimately, Ulis has to do what’s best for his future.

That being said, it’s very fair to say it’ll be difficult to see the beloved icon sitting on the Arkansas bench this fall, likely wearing red.

Ulis was a student-assistant for Kentucky the past two seasons and many had held out hope that Mark Pope would find some role for him in Lexington. His charisma and rapport with the players made him the type of coach that any program would be happy to have.

Instead, Tyler Ulis will be off to the call pigs, and we’ll all just have to deal with it.

No. 3 was a special player under Calipari, earning First-Team All-American honors his sophomore season while shattering the all-time UK single-season assist record.

As expected, Calipari has essentially relocated his entire roster and coaching staff to Fayetteville. Ulis not being initially announced as a part of Calipari’s staff made this news come as somewhat of an unpleasant surprise, but it makes total sense when you digest it.

Who could ever forget Ulis’ gutsy performance against Louisville, the program’s biggest rival? The blood dripping down his face will be an image that sticks with the Big Blue Nation for a long time.

While inevitably Ulis was destined to coach somewhere else at some point, it stings a bit knowing it’ll be for a conference rival under a coach who’s got the Cats square in his sights.

It’ll be wild when the Coach Cal and the Razorbacks return to Rupp Arena.