He had a career that would span 42 years until 1972.[1] During his tenure, he led the men's basketball team to four NCAA championships in 1948, 1949, 1951 and 1958.[2] The Wildcats later won a fifth championship under Joe B. Hall in 1978, another in 1996 under Rick Pitino and the next under Orlando "Tubby" Smith in 1998.[74] In 2007, the University of Kentucky named Billy Gillispie as the head coach of the men's basketball team and on March 30, 2009, the university named John Calipari as the head coach of the Wildcats. Calipari coached the team to its eighth national title in 2012.