Seven signs John Calipari "really gets IT" at Kentucky
By Staff
No, to date, John Calipari has not run out to midcourt at Rupp Arena, grabbed Ashley Judd, and together formed the “Y” for the Kentucky cheer. Not yet anyway. But in his four months on the job, Calapari has done practically everything right. Our good friends over at A SEA OF BLUE have spent a lot of time talking the fact that Calipari gets “it”, perhaps more so than his predecessors. While I am not going o launch into a detail analysis of what “it” is, “it” is simply knowing what the job as basketball coach at UK entails, and the job of withholding it with class and dignity and restoring pride to the masses.
On any definition, Calipari has knocked “IT” out of the park. Here are the seven signs (one for each title thus far) that highlight the things about Calipari that has made him perfect for this job.
#7 THE FIRST FAMILY
My brother Robert likes to say that one of the reasons that Billy G did not succeed is because he did not have that firm first lady behind him. There was no one to remind him to “make sure you don’t blow off that Rotary luncheon in Pikeville” tomorrow night. While I am sure G had an assistant to keep him abreast of events, engagements did get blown off. I am not saying that Ellen Calipari is constantly on the phone with Cal dictating his schedule, but Ellen does keep him grounded. Calipari has said that whenever he gets too full of himself, he just needs to go home where his wife tells him to “quit patting yourself on the back. You’ll break your arm”.
Having that close family unit does definitely definitely helps him relate more to the fanbase than a 45 year oldish bachelor with an active social life. He leads to that “we are one of you” appeal that Calipari has. It also helps that the first family is involved in charitable events both in Memphis in Lexington. The Calipari kids have become “mini celebs” in their own right due to the daughters Facebook pages and Brad’s AAU basketball games.
#6 HE LEARNS ON THE JOB
The one thing I have found about Calipari is if he makes a mistake, he tends not to repeat the same mistake. There was a slight controversy about how walk-on Landon Slone was dismissed from the basketball team. Landon says that he waited for hours to talk to Calipari about his role on the team, the Calipari camp says they were unaware of this and they would have handled it differently next time. Well, the “next time” came when three walkons were recently dismissed and right about the time the news leaked out, Calipari had an explanation on his website and in doing so, stemmed any bad press or mini-controversy that may have occured.
#5 KING OF ALL MEDIA
Apologies to Howard Stern, but in the Bluegrass, Calipari has charmed and worked the media like a snake handler. And in the case of a few curmudgeon reporters that are still critical, Calipari simply circumvents them and puts his own story out on his website. Many mocked Calipari when he turned to Twitter to get his messages directly to the fans, but Calipari has over 500,000 followers on the site and a rapidly growing Facebook site. Through these media, Calipari has spoken to the BBN like no coach ever has before and he actually asks for the fans input. Calipari recently ran a twitterpoll asking UK fans which opponent they would like to see on the schedule. Calipari takes it to the people.
Never one to avoid a TV opportunity, our Coach Cal has probably done more interviews this summer than any other coach. It’s a quick acting machine as his twitter updates alert fans to his appearances and UK fans tune in in droves.
#4 BUILDING THE UK BRAND NAME
Calipari has seemed to relish his role as the face of the basketball program, and every time we see one of his numerous interviews, he is nattily attired in Wildcat Blue and White. And everywhere Calipari goes, he takes that UK brand with him, whether it is courtside for Derrick Rose’s playoff games or having LeBron James drop in to shoot hoops at the Craft Center. Calipari has made UK the destination for point guards and has stamped UK as “Point Guard University” all before the season even starts. Calipari is taking UK into the video game universe with his appearance in EA Sport’s NCAA Basketball games. It’s a subtle touch but the video games open up a whole new market for UK because who know what HS freshmen will play the game, see Calipari and UK positioned, and then be the next John Wall coming out of high school.
Calipari has also kept up his promise to make Kentucky the “Commonwealth’s Team” and is not afraid to venture into Louisville for a speaking engagement. As he said in the initial press conference, his goal is to extend the UK brand to all corners of the state and it is something he has worked tirelessly on.
#3 HE THINKS BIG…
From proposing that Midnight Madness take place in 70,000 seat Commonwealth Stadium to going to China and expanding the UK brand there, Calipari is a big thinker. His shaping of the basketball schedule is on the larger scale. Gone are the teams with RPI’s over 200 and in are teams like UConn. Calipari is rumored to be working on bringing Duke on the schedule in front of 40,000 in Atlanta and he wants to start a series with Kansas in St Louis. Calipari is also looking for ways to add either Texas or another big name to the regular season schedule.
#2 REACHING OUT TO EX-PLAYERS
Part of the complaints against Billy G was that he was rude to ex-players and seemed to shut them out of the program. Calipari rectified that within weeks of taking the job and he even found places on his staff for ex Cats Scott Padgett and Tony Delk. Part of being at a school with such great history is remembering that history and from all indications, Calipari is doing his part to reach out to the past teams.
#1 HIS OBVIOUS REVERENCE FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY
I have to admit I was a bit cynical about the Calipari hire, but he had me at “hello” – literally. One of Calipari’s first comments was a nod to the family of Mr Wildcat – Bill Keightley, and I was hooked. Calipari has kept up his admiration of Keightley on the national media, most recently last Sunday on his ESPNU interview with Andy Katz. Then he said that one of his biggest regrets was that he missed the opportunity to learn from Keightley. Such humbleness is genuine on Calipari. Also recall that right before he took the UK job, he paced calls to the past coaches of the program — Hall, Sutton, and Smith — and got advice from them.
Calipari seems awed and inspired by the fact that he is the coach at UK and everyday seems to be a “pinch me” moment. He has interacted with the fans more in the last four months than any coach — say ever. Calipari is well versed on the history of the school and is not afraid to
throw out props to the past UK greats. Simply put, it’s a love affair between the fans and Calipari that is still going strong both ways.
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