Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
At some point, John Calipari will no longer be the head coach of the University of Kentucky’s Men’s Basketball Team. At some point, the post-Coach Cal era will be upon the Big Blue Nation. Without a doubt, the John Calipari era has been fantastic. The program with the most storied history in college basketball is on a run that is impressive even by its lofty standards. The Final Fours, the championships, the NBA Draft picks; right now, it really is All Cats Everything. Coach Cal has made Kentucky the name in college basketball. He brings more attention to Lexington during June and July than most coaches and programs get during the regular season. He has made the Wildcats special.
And he’s going to leave. And it will be OK.
Adolph Rupp left after 40 years and 4 NCAA Titles. And the Wildcats were more than alright. Joe B. Hall left with an NCAA Title in hand and other Final Four appearances. And the Wildcats were more than alright. Rick Pitino brought the program back from the depths of NCAA probation. Pitino won an NCAA title, set the table for another and had multiple Final Four appearances. He left and the Wildcats were more than alright. Even when coaches, Sutton and Gillispie, leave the program in shambles, things still come up roses for the Wildcats. Why?
Because we are Kentucky.
Since Calipari’s arrival in Lexington, every offseason has been filled with rumors of his leaving Kentucky for the NBA. Every offseason, some franchise comes calling with some offer of money and/or power and control of the team. And every season thus far, Cal has reloaded the Kentucky roster and made a run for another NCAA title. It’s like the movie Groundhog Day. Some NBA or college basketball writer with “sources” claims Cal is leaving, the Big Blue Nation panics, Calipari comes out and refutes it and then life moves on. It’s the same thing every summer.
The thing is, no one, but John Calipari knows when he is leaving Lexington. Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart has given him the best contract in college basketball. Calipari is adored in Lexington like few other coaches in college basketball. He has perfected high level college recruiting. He has sent numerous kids to the NBA and graduated the others. From the outside, everything at UK is as perfect as Coach Cal will find in college basketball. And if he decides to leave tomorrow, the BBN should thank him for what he’s done and wish him well on his next endeavor. He has certainly earned that.
The way some Kentucky fans behave, mostly on social media, it’s as if Coach Cal is the only coach the program has ever had. If he leaves, he leaves. I have more than enough faith that the next coach will be able to succeed and keep the Kentucky program elite. With five coaches that have won NCAA Titles (Rupp, Hall, Pitino, Smith, Calipari), it’s obvious that there is something special with the Wildcat program. The next coach may not win like Cal and that’s not the point. He will win his way. Kentucky won during the segregated era of Rupp, the veteran team heavy 70s with Hall, the high octane/high volume three point era with Pitino, with the defensive prowess of Smith’s 1998 title team and in the one and done era with Cal. Why wouldn’t the program continue success going forward?
I love Cal and everything he has done for my beloved Wildcats. On the court, they’re fun to watch and wildly successful. Off the court, the student/athletes haven’t done anything to sully the good name of the University of Kentucky. In fact, with raising money for the Haiti earthquake victims, the victims of Hurricane Sandy and the tornadoes that ravaged eastern Kentucky, these teams have gone above and beyond what the average college basketball players do. It has been a great 7 years. And, I hope there are a few more great ones left.
At some point, though, we have to realize that Calipari will leave Kentucky. I, for one, won’t believe it until I see him look into the camera and tell us himself. There are a lot of things in life to worry about, whether John Calipari stays or goes shouldn’t be one of them.