Written by Andy | 27 June 2011

JDAC/Flickr In order to find enough money in the budget to bankroll John Calipari's 2-year contract extension — increasing the total value of his remaining contract to 8 years and $36.5 million — the University of Kentucky has decided to re-allocate financial resources from the now defunct philosophy department to the men's basketball program.

"What John Calipari did these past two years, winning all those games and renewing the energy in the fan base was nothing short of spectacular," said Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhardt, also marveling at the number of players that made it to the NBA. "We did what we had to do to keep Coach Cal here and got rid of the Philosophy program, which was unfortunate. But I'm sure anyone that happened to lose their job doesn't mind. They're probably huge basketball fans."

Barnhardt met with school President Lee T. Todd, and the two mutually agreed that it would be in the best interests of the university to keep Calipari in Lexington for as long as possible.

"We ended up dumping a major that, to be honest, I didn't even know we had," said Todd. "I love this school, but we don't need to hand out degrees to kids for exploring the meaning of life. When you think about the University of Kentucky, do you think about philosophy, or do you think of basketball? Go Wildcats!"

The university will pick up the tab of any performance based incentives Calipari achieves — annual $1 million retention bonus and a $700,000 bonus for winning a national title — by eliminating Russian Studies, University Health Services, Intramural sports programs and women's basketball.

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