John Calipari: Big Blue Nation's Player's Coach – The Sports Quotient
Karl-Anthony Towns, the 2015 NBA No. 1 overall draft pick, had no trouble converting a year’s worth of NCAA college basketball to a successful rookie season. The 19-year-old post player averaged 18.3 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks for the Minnesota Timberwolves en route to Rookie of the Year Honors.
Rewind the hands of time to a 19-year-old John Wall, who in 2010 was also drafted first overall. He recorded 16.4 points, 8.3 assists, and 1.8 steals in his rookie campaign as a Washington Wizard. Another notable player, Anthony Davis, was taken first in the 2012 NBA draft as a 19-year-old in his first season. The 6-foot-10 power forward averaged 13.5 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks with the New Orleans Hornets. Other names like DeMarcus Cousins, Willie Cauley-Stein, Nerlens Noel, Devin Booker, Julius Randle, and Brandon Knight have become familiar names in the NBA. Even recent draft pick Tyler Ulis is making his name known during summer league action.
All of these guys have one thing in common: they were all Kentucky Wildcats. Say what you want about how he runs his program, but Kentucky basketball head coach John Calipari has had great success turning his college players into NBA stars. According to his website, Calipari prides himself on being a “’players-first’ coach with a penchant for helping people reach their dreams.” The total number of players that have been drafted to the association under Coach Cal, which includes his coaching stints at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and the University of Memphis, is 39 and counting. Twenty-three of the 39 have been first-round picks.
While many of those drafted have taken advantage of the controversial one-and-done rule, they made that one year count. This is especially true for members of the 2011-2012 Kentucky basketball team which had a record-tying six players from that team drafted to the NBA that year. Those players were Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Terrence Jones, Marquis Teague, Doron Lamb, and Darius Miller.
The two-loss Wildcats team won the NCAA Championship over the Kansas Jayhawks and tied the record for most wins in an NCAA Division I men’s basketball season with 38 wins total. Coach Cal’s 2008 Memphis team, which lost in the NCAA championship to the Kansas Jayhawks, also had 38 wins, prompting some to want another Cal-Self showdown.
In addition to the records, stats, and college-to-pro turnover, Calipari has achieved celebrity status. High school basketball players watch Kentucky basketball and see the bright lights of Big Blue Nation and the occasional appearance from big-time celebrities like Drake.
One could argue that, as evidenced by the three Wildcat freshmen (Davis, Kidd-Gilchrist, and Teague) drafted into the NBA in 2012, the one-and-done rule is Calipari’s biggest selling point. Are you really good and want to go to the NBA without really having to go to college? Come to the University of Kentucky. Ironically, in an interview after a Southeastern Conference game that same year, Calipari said he hated the one-and-done rule.
“I can’t stand the rule, but it’s a rule,” he said. “So, I have an option: recruit players who aren’t good enough … The second thing is I can have kids stay and convince them to stay in school when they should put their name in the draft.”
“Not only are they going to the league, they’re prepared to perform in that league and perform well,” he added.
Before players even arrive on campus, Calipari shows a genuine concern for them. In an interview with Colin Cowherd on Dec. 2, 2015, Coach Cal discusses his love for recruiting. Though each approach to a potential Wildcat is different, his attitude is always the same.
“I am coaching someone’s child. That’s not just a basketball player; that’s someone’s child,” Calipari told Cowherd. “In a lot of cases, these children are trying to change the whole direction of a family, and I don’t take that lightly.”
“I go into a home and you know what I do? I look around and say, ‘If we do right together, it ain’t going to be like this long. That’s how I look at this,” he added.
And that’s just where it starts. Even once players are gone, he still maintains that same authentic care for them not just as players, but as people too. The night Towns was drafted, one of the first people he embraced after hearing his name was Calipari.
A few months later, when Calipari got inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Towns, among many other of Cal’s former players, showed up to support him on his special night.
“He’s like a father figure to me,” Towns said, while still referring to Calipari as his coach.
Wall shared the same feeling of Calipari holding that father figure role in his life. “It’s an honor to say that I played under Coach Cal,” he said.
Clearly, Calipari knows how to recruit and coach talent, as shown in his impressive record of being the third winningest active coach with at least 10 years of experience in NCAA Division I men’s basketball (.781), 13 conference championships, and nine conference coach of the year awards. But more than anything, Calipari takes the “player’s coach” title seriously. That doesn’t mean he won’t reprimand one of his guys if it calls for it. But, what it does mean is that the correction will come from his desire to see his players – someone’s son – improve.
Soon, Calipari will have the opportunity to coach his own son. Brad Calipari will join the Wildcats basketball team this season as a walk on. No matter who’s son puts on that Kentucky uniform, though, whether past or present, they all will be playing for the same man: John Calipari, the player’s coach.
Edited by Peyten Maki.
