John Calipari, College Basketball’s #1 Pick

Jun 12, 2014; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates manager Clint Hurdle (left) greets University of Kentucky men’s basketball head coach John Calipari (right) on the field before the Pirates host the Chicago Cubs at PNC Park.

For the last few weeks, ESPN.com has been ranking college coaches, trying to determine who is the best coach in college basketball today. But, it’s led to some questionable outcomes, leading cbssports.com to conduct a “draft” of college basketball coaches. And should be no surprise who’s drafted first. Gregg Doyel writes:

"“After carefu… CALIPARI. Sorry. I hate it when I blurt. You’re telling me I have the entire country of college basketball coaches to consi CALIPARI. Sorry. To consider, and I can pick any of them, with the goal being the best guy to run a program for the next five years? Let me think ab… CALIPARI. I mean, come on. Look what he did at Kentucky, but the cynics out there are right — it’s Kentucky. Anyone not named Gillispie can win big there. So, fine. Look what he did at Memphis. Look how fast he did it there. And then look what he’s done at Kentucky. Look how fast he’s done it there. Give me Calipari, give me a school anywhere in the United States — or Guam — and my team is gonna visit the Final Four, and probably more than once, before his fifth year ends. Or starts.”"

Everyone is in agreement that the 2014 NBA Draft is absolutely loaded. And you might think this would be a cause of celebration for NBA General Managers. After all, with so much talent it’d be hard to screw up your pick, right? Wrong. Bill Simmons writes:

"“Which brings me to a bigger point: You know how you make an NBA general manager miserable? Stick him in a loaded lottery. It’s one thing to play the guessing game with Otto Porter, Alex Len, Ben McLemore and a one-legged Nerlens Noel; none of those guys will haunt you. But if you’re picking between Wiggins, Parker, Embiid and Exum, or you have your choice of Vonleh, Smart, Gordon and Randle? Now that’s a nightmare.”"

Most experts agree that Julius Randle will be drafted in the Top 10. But James Young’s draft status is a little less clear. Mock drafts are all over the place when it comes to Young, who thought he would be a Top 10 pick when he declared for the draft. Adam Himmelsbach writes:

"“Former Kentucky forward James Young said that when he entered the NBA draft, he believed he would be a top-10 pick. Most experts and mock drafts now have him slotted somewhere between 12th and 20th, however.‘I thought I was definitely going to be in the top 10,’ Young said on Wednesday afternoon. ‘…But whatever team I go to, whatever team doesn’t pick me, I’ll see them in the regular season and just go at them.’”"

Wildcats’ fans know Mark Stoops is working on building a football program and most understand that doing so will require time and patience. But fans want to see improvement, which is understandable. Mitch Barnhart feels the improvement is at hand. Kyle Tucker writes:

"“How does University of Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart know the football program is heading in the right direction despite a 2-10 debut season for coach Mark Stoops?‘You can always feel your progress,’ Barnhart said in an interview with The Courier-Journal and Associated Press on Tuesday. ‘Certainly we want to win games, and at the end of the day that’s how people evaluate where we are, but I want to be able to just maintain momentum and feel the progress. I feel like we’re getting there. We’re getting better.’”"

Ben Simmons will likely be ranked the top high school basketball prospect in the class of 2015 by at least one recruiting service by the end of the summer. The 6’8 power forward has been coveted by every major program, including Kentucky. And given Calipari’s track record on recruiting elite talent, one might expect to see Simmons play his college basketball in Lexington. But, he won’t. Instead, Ben Simmons will play at LSU. Ben Roberts writes:

"“Simmons was already on the national recruiting radar when he left his home country and came to play for Montverde Academy in Florida midway through his sophomore season. He possesses a blend of size, skill, athleticism and basketball IQ that attracted college scouts early on, and his recruitment picked up even more when he arrived in the United States.It also came to a quick conclusion.Simmons was hearing from just about every major program in the country — including Kentucky — when he committed to LSU before his junior season.”"