Maybe John Calipari was right … Kentucky Wildcats own college basketball

Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

At Big Blue Madness this year, John Calipari uttered the statement that would be embraced by Kentucky fans and mocked by the rest of college basketball:

We don’t just play college basketball, we are college basketball

And six months later, the man is looking like a genius.  Face it, if this season continued on the course it was on after the loss to South Carolina, Calipari’s new book and the timing of it would have been mocked nonstop.  But as great coaches are able to do, Calipari salvaged this season and led his team to the NCAA Championship game and well, you can not even turn on the television without seeing Calipari’s mug.  Hell, he is even on Colbert soon.

Disappointing as the loss to UConn was, you can’t deny one thing.  Calipari was a prophet back in October and even he may have been wrong.  Kentucky is not owning college basketball, they are dominating it.  

"1. Win or lose, Kentucky is dominating college basketball. It’s been a little more than 10 days since UConn beat the Wildcats for the 2014 national title but since that moment, Kentucky has still been the one team that’s dominated virtually every headline in the sport. Maybe it’s because the Wildcats have so many players debating whether or not to leave Lexington early for the NBA Draft. Maybe it’s because John Calipari has been on literally every media outlet possible in the past week to talk about his team’s season and promote his new book — “Players First.” Or maybe it’s just because right now Kentucky will always be the dominant storyline in college basketball. Before last season, we all wanted to know if the Wildcats would truly live up to their preseason billing. During the season, Kentucky struggled and was a constant point of conversation because it simply wasn’t living up to expectations. Then, in the NCAA Tournament, Calipari did arguably the best coaching job of his career as he led a team with five freshman starters to consecutive wins over Wichita State, Louisville, Michigan and Wisconsin only to come up short in the title game against UConn. Now? Everyone wants to know which players are staying, which players are going, and more importantly, how the players that return will mesh with the Wildcats’ loaded freshman class next season. There’s no doubt which program is dominating college basketball — it’s Kentucky. And it’s not even close."

Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

With the Easter holiday weekend upon us, most of the players are with their families now or will be in transit very soon. And I’m sure there will be some final discussions around the kitchen table as certain players discuss their NBA futures with their families. The Harrison twins will be a couple of those players finalizing their decisions.

Reading the tea-leaves on Aaron and Andrew Harrison, I am inclined to think they return to Kentucky. I know that everyone is saying that they are not getting the news from NBA scouts they want, so why not use that as added motivation for next year? Plus the lure of “one last year” to play together has to be appealing along with the chance to win a national title.

In the end, we have to respect their decision and it seems that John Calipari has no clue what the twins will decide.

"Kentucky coach John Calipari is pleading ignorance on whether Andrew and Aaron Harrison will return for their sophomore seasons or declare for the NBA Draft. “I have no idea,” Calipari said Thursday. Fellow freshman James Young announced Thursday that he is headed for the draft, while freshman forward Julius Randle has yet to announce. “They have ‘til the 27th to make a decision,” Calipari said. “I don’t even know what the NCAA date is because we don’t worry about it. It has nothing to do with us. The only date they have to be concerned about is the 27th, when they have to put their name in or they don’t put their name in.” ESPN’s Chad Ford Tweeted: “Harrison twins were strongly leaning toward draft. Now they are considering returning to UK after NBA feedback. Should decide on Tues/Wed.” One NBA executive told SNY.tv at the Final Four the twins would go anywhere from 25-45 in the Draft. Multiple NBA scouts, executives and draft experts said that they weren’t yet ready for the NBA and should stay another year. “I think it will help their stock because it will give them a chance to improve over the course of an entire season that they can play like they did over six games,” ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla told SNY.tv at the Final Four."

Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

We have learned that Willie Cauley-Stein’s ankle injury was worse than we originally thought and Calipari revealed that WCS just completed surgery on his ankle. The timetable is for him to be back on the court in a couple of months, so it does not look as if it will linger into basketball season at all. Calipari also talked about Cauley-Stein’s decision to return to Kentucky.

"Whether it was the ankle injury that would prevent him from working out for NBA teams, falling a win short of a national championship, or tasting a Final Four but not being able to play in it, Cauley-Stein shocked a lot of people earlier in the week when he announced he was returning for his junior season at Kentucky. Among the surprised was his college head coach. “Raise your hand if you were stunned that he said he was coming back,” Calipari said as he raised his own hand. Calipari said he never talked to Cauley-Stein about coming back to school. He said their only conversation was about the first time he visited Cauley-Stein at his high school and how amazing it was that a kid who was involved in just about every sport but basketball could now be a first-round pick after just two years. “Can you imagine?” Coach Cal said. “And that was our talk.” It was Cauley-Stein who approached Calipari about returning. “He basically said, ‘You know, Coach, I’m in no hurry to leave. I love going to school. I’m gonna be really close to my degree. I still have to grow as a player. And we left something on the table there that I’d like to try and get.’ That’s a good answer for me if you want to come back,” Calipari said."