As has become customary this time of year, fans of the University of Kentucky Men’s Basketball Team will have to say goodbye to players that still have college eligibility remaining. For the most part, the Big Blue Nation has adapted to the change in culture, but it doesn’t make the goodbyes any better. With that being said, the university has announced a press conference for Thursday, April 9 to announce the intentions of seven Wildcats. By Thursday evening, we’ll know who is staying and who is going and will have a better idea of what the 2015-16 roster will look like.
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I’m not going to pretend to tell any of those kids what they should or shouldn’t do. They need to listen to their families and to head coach John Calipari to get an idea of what would be best for them. I don’t envy their decisions because even as I near 40, I still don’t always know what’s best for me. What I can say is that I wish them all well and I thank each of them for joining the Wildcat family. Once a Wildcat, always a Wildcat and it doesn’t matter how long you were here.
As for next year’s team, the late, great Bob Marley said it best “Don’t worry about a thing, ’cause every little thing is gonna be alright.” At this point, no one really knows how the roster will look. Tyler Ulis and Marcus Lee appear to be back, but there’s still some questions to be answered in the coming weeks. And you know what? It doesn’t matter who stays or who goes. Outside of the year when he lost his best player to injury, Coach Cal has shown a knack deep tournament runs in the NCAA Tournament. And I believe next year will be no different.
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Not counting 2013, Cal has had three dominant teams (2010, 2012, 2015) and two teams that peaked at the right time (2011, 2014). What makes Calipari really remarkable is his flexibility. Every year he comes up with a different approach for each team to get them to be their collective best. Whether it’s platoons or the Knight/Harrellson pick-and-roll, each of Calipari’s six UK teams has looked dramatically different. Unlike most coaches, Coach Cal adapts to his players strengths instead of him forcing them to adapt to him.
What also gets overlooked is how good of a coach John Calipari is. Sure, his recruiting is nearly unmatched, but what doesn’t talked about is how much a complete coach he is. I can’t stress this enough: talent alone doesn’t win championships or reach Final Fours. For all the talent Dean Smith had at North Carolina over the years, he only won two titles and even those involved fluke plays in the title games. Yes, you need need talent to win, but getting talent to play together and accept team or individual needs/desires is a skill that Cal excels in and is crucial to his successful run in Lexington.
This time next year, the BBN will be playing the “Who’s Staying/Who’s Going?” game again. And, more likely than not, it will be after a deep NCAA Tournament run. John Calipari has established a juggernaut with the Kentucky program. Year in and year out, the Wildcats figure to be in the mix, in the national title hunt. The randomness of the NCAA Tourney makes it difficult to predict future success, but with Cal in steering the ship, you just know that the Wildcats will remain elite. And every little thing will be alright in the Big Blue Nation.