Apr 3, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari and his team wave to fans after practice for the 2015 NCAA Men
On Tuesday, May 12, the New Orleans Pelicans fired head coach Monty Williams. The move was surprising as the Pelicans won 45 regular season games and made the playoffs for the first time in 4 seasons. That leaves the young team without a coach. On the Pelicans’ roster is Anthony Davis and Tyreke Evans, two players that were coached by the same person in college: current Kentucky head man, John Calipari.
For the last six years, as soon as the college basketball season winds down and the NBA starts axing coaches, we get involved in the same song and dance. It seems that folks involved with both professional and college basketball start to opine as to where Coach Cal will coach next year. For some reason, the common belief is that Calipari yearns to return to the NBA to complete a task he started with the New Jersey Nets nearly 20 years ago. It’s as if he’s predestined to return to the professional level to prove to others that he can coach at the highest level.
My one thought: “Why would Cal leave?”
Yes, I know that at some point, John Calipari will no longer be the head coach at the University of Kentucky. I find it amazing that he’s remained in Lexington as long has he has. Now that he is looking at year 7, what’s to say that it won’t end up being year 15? Despite the perception that the luster is somehow off the program, Calipari is riding high with 4 Final Four appearances in the last five seasons. He’s still bringing in talent, with the 2016 class set to return to the elite class level. Sure, the Big Blue Nation would like to have more titles, but you can’t win the NCAA Tourney without making the Final Four and it’s clear that Cal has the program at the level where the Final Four isn’t guaranteed, but it’s awfully close.
Mandatory Credit: Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports
Of course, Calipari could bolt for the NBA tomorrow or the next week. At this point of his career, I see John Calipari thinking more of his legacy. He’s getting older and he’s got to be thinking of how history will remember him. Obviously, there’s the issues at the Universities of Massachusetts and Memphis. Those cases have been well documented and even though Calipari was not implicated in either situation, the whispers have still followed him. At Kentucky, he has the ability to change that perception. If he adds another NCAA title or two (not a far-fetched idea) he would have made his mark at the bluest of college hoops blueblood programs.
On Tuesday, it was announced that Cal had signed a contract extension with Kentucky that raises his annual salary to close to $8 million per year. It features a $1.6 million dollar “longevity bonus” if he hangs around to the 2021-22 season. Coaching contracts aren’t usually worth the paper they’re written on, but I just have a feeling this is different. John Calipari appears to be in Lexington for the long haul, ready to get off the rumor mill and settling in to secure his legacy.*
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