Do we have time for one final take on Calipari’s “greatest night in UK history” comment? I have to admit, I probably got more email on my stance that Calipari should be given a free pass on his faux pas. Like I have said, I think Calipari knows very much that his reign will go down in history as a tremendous failure if at least one title is not delivered to Lexington. Yes, I said at least one. Many people are expecting multiple tiles.
I did find an article that has a different take on the Calipari statement. Kevin Scarbinsky takes the premise that Calipari was not talking to the blue bloods from the state of Kentucky, but speaking to the five star recruits, who have NBA hoops dreams from their freshman year of high school. In his statement, Calipari was saying, “Come to Kentucky and you will get to the league”.
I know that some Kentucky fans, for some reason, do not like the fact that UK will be the source of one and dones every year. But relax. Calipari is trying to win a title, and he knows that to win a title, he needs the best players to come to your school. Calipari hates the “one and done rule” as much as anyone, and he has stated this on many situations. But as long as the NBA is going to be ignorant enough to pretend to care about education and mandate the silly one year rule, John Calipari is going to scoop up top 50 players and he will eventually defy all the sportswriters logic and he will win a title with the one and done talent.
It’s an exciting time to be a UK fan and you can rest assured that John Calipari will keep Kentucky in the news and in the minds of the nations top HS players every single year. Even if it means showing up at the NBA draft and uttering statements that the BBN may find absurd. Calipari is a master salesman and knows who is target is at any given moment. Thursday night’s comments were not meant for the “Paducah to Pikeville” contingent. but for those rarefied players with five stars by their name.
I do want to include some more of Scarbingers article for you to peruse while you are planning your July 4th agenda pretending to work today. While I don’t agree 100%, it is an interesting take from an out of stater:
"No, Calipari’s kind of honesty has been on full display since Kentucky took over the NBA Draft Thursday night the way it usually does the SEC Tournament. He knows what college basketball means for the best high school players in the country, and he’s not afraid to say it. It’s not a destination.It’s just part of the journey to the league.When UK became the first program to have five players selected in the first round of the draft, and Calipari called it ‘‘the biggest day in the history of Kentucky’s program,” and he refused to back down from that outlandish statement the morning after, there was no shortage of outrage inside and outside the commonwealth.The backlash has gone something like this:Doesn’t he know that Kentucky has won seven national championships and that even one title trumps the first No. 1 draft pick in school history and all his friends?How would he know what it means to win a national title since he’s never won one and his two Final Four trips have been stricken from the record?How dare he?Here’s how.When he said what he said, Calipari wasn’t talking to the 30-year-old in Paintsville, Ky., who sprays his face blue before Tennessee invades Rupp Arena.Calipari was talking to the likes of Trevor Lacey.Lacey may be the best high school basketball player in Alabama, and one of the better prep players in America, in the class of 2011. A lot of colleges are recruiting the Butler High School guard hard.Kentucky is one of them.Kentucky wasn’t just another school before Calipari got there, but UK stands out even more after Thursday night.Kentucky’s best players, top pick John Wall and No. 5 selection DeMarcus Cousins, went in the first round. Other Kentucky starters, No. 14 pick Patrick Patterson and No. 18 choice Eric Bledsoe, also went in the first round.So did backup Daniel Orton, who went from Kentucky’s bench to the Orlando Magic with the No. 29 pick in the first round. If you think that wasn’t a big night for players who want to follow in their footsteps, you don’t know elite prospects. Calipari’s crazy-on-the-surface statements add up when you do the math. According to the NBA’s rigid rookie salary scale, here’s how much the five Kentucky draftees stand to make in the first year alone of their guaranteed two-year contracts:Wall: $4,286,900. Cousins: $2,812,200. Patterson: $1,519, 400. Bledsoe: $1,237,500. Orton: $857,000"
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