By JAMIE H. VAUGHT Cats Up Close
Monticello — John Calipari's recent arrival at UK has really given the school's
basketball program a big shot in the arm.
In less than one month, the charismatic Calipari, who is the nation's
third winningest active coach (behind North Carolina's Roy Williams and
Gonzaga's Mark Few), has already energized the fan base in the Big Blue
Nation. And that includes the former Wildcat players.
"I think Cal is a terrific communicator, with excellent people skills,"
said ex-Kentucky star Mike Pratt, who is an analyst on the UK radio network.
"He will push his teams to reach their potential but still not do it in a
demeaning way. There are exciting times ahead for UK Basketball."
Pratt, who helped UK president Dr. Lee Todd and athletic director Mitch
Barnhart with the coaching search, said he was involved with the search from
start to finish.
"I can tell you John was No. 1 from the start," he added. "What sealed
the deal was that John communicated his desire to be at UK from the start."
Derrick Hord, a former All-SEC standout at Kentucky, is excited about
the new Kentucky coach.
"Coach Calipari gets it and appears to understand the role he would
undertake as the leader of the UK basketball program," Hord said. "I was
very impressed with his comments during his initial press conference, and
what appeared to be a message with a desire of inclusion of past, present
and future, something in my opinion sorely missing and overdue."
"There was an obvious display of respect for the program, and the way he
reached out to former coaches and players was very admirable. I particularly
appreciate how he has prioritized thus far. Heck, the guy can recruit and
coach, too. I'm looking forward to this era and hope I have a ring-side
seat."
Scott Padgett, a former All-SEC forward who played eight years in the
NBA, has been impressed with Calipari, who has taken two teams‹UMass and
Memphis‹to the NCAA Final Four.
"I thought he did a great job (at the introductory press conference),"
said Padgett, who is expected to join Calipari's staff. "He was funny and
he answered the questions honestly and was straight forward. He did what we
expected him to be, the guy that won't have a problem sitting in front of
the press and say what he feels like he needs to say. I don't expect him to
have a problem with the media or the fans. That's the last thing I would
worry about with this coach. As a recruiter, he's as good as everybody right
now. This is an exciting day in college basketball."
Just moments after Calipari's televised news conference on April 1 which
was held on the UK campus, I ran into ex-Wildcat player Herky Rupp, the son
of legendary coach Adolph Rupp, and he was gracious. For my first book on UK
basketball, which came out in 1991, I had a good interview with the younger
Rupp at his Lexington home about 20 years ago.
Anyhow, after a small talk, I asked him one simple question.
Would your daddy be pleased with Calipari?
"Oh yeah, absolutely," smiled Herky, who earlier had met with the new
Wildcat boss.
During the 1970s, when Calipari was a teenager growing up in the Moon
Township along the Ohio River (near Pittsburgh), one of the players he used
to pretend was former Wildcat star Kyle Macy, a member of Kentucky's 1978
national championship squad.
"I used to try to emulate Kyle Macy," recalled Calipari, who played
college basketball at North Carolina Wilmington and Clarion State in
Pennsylvania as a point guard. "As a matter of fact, one college game
someone yelled at me ŒKyle Macy' and I was so excited I couldn't play the
rest of the game. I spent time with Kyle at the Five-Star Basketball Camp.
He came up to do a shooting station and I was his assistant."
And Calipari made several references about his dream job at Kentucky and
he can hardly believe it.
"I've gotten calls from players ‹Rex Chapman, Tayshaun Prince and Nazr
Mohammed," said Calipari, whose UMass club played the Wildcats five times,
losing four of them, during the 1990s. "I've gotten calls from a lot of the
former players excited about what's going to happen or what can happen
here."
"This is pretty heady stuff for me. But this was a dream I had since we
brought our team down here (at Rupp Arena in 1991). We had won the Alaska
Shootout, came out here to play, and I could not believe the environment. At
that point I said, ŒI'd love to coach there someday.'"
Calipari later repeated, "When we played, Rick Pitino was here and I saw
what was going on. I was like, ŒMan, that would be a dream for me.'"
When he talked to his players on the Memphis team, he told them that "I
would be talking to the University of Kentucky. I didn't want them to read
on the ticker what I was doing. And I said to them, ŒGuys, there's no
college job in the country that I wouldn't leave to, but I've got to talk to
the University of Kentucky. It's a dream of mine.'"
Since Calipari is now at Kentucky, you certainly will enjoy reading his
old 1996 book, titled, "Refuse to Lose." While the 285-page book, which was
co-written by New York sportswriter Dick Weiss, is out of print, you still
can find used copies on the Internet.
Believing that Calipari was on his way to UK, I luckily bought a former
library copy for only one penny (plus $3.99 shipping) on Amazon about 24
hours before UK officially announced the hiring of new coach. The price has
since gone up quite a bit, but it's still a good read, containing numerous
tidbits, including an episode where ex-UK star and NBA legend Pat Riley
encouraged Calipari in 1995 to coach in the NBA.
Interestingly, it was Calipari's coaching rival, Rick Pitino, who wrote
the foreword for the book, which also contained many youthful-looking
pictures of UK coach and his family.
By the way, Calipari is scheduled to have another book out in several
months. His new book, titled "Bounce Back: Overcoming Setbacks to Thrive in
Business and in Life" (Simon & Schuster), is scheduled to hit the bookstores
in September.
He already has begun promoting the book, which offers insights into how
to get started again after going through personal setbacks, including a very
public firing from his head coaching position with the New Jersey Nets.
"I want readers to know that they are not alone," Calipari said. "People
get fired every day. I can give guidance in negotiating those troubling
times."
Despite his lucrative eight-year pact worth at least $31.65 million,
Calipari likes to remind the fans that he's like a regular Joe. And his
family knows a thing or two about the coal mines.
"I'm a regular guy, folks," said the new coach. "I do not walk on water.
I do not have a magic wand. I told Dr. (Lee) Todd and Mitch (Barnhart), if
you want something to happen in a year, do not hire me. That's not how I do
things. But when we get it right, you will notice we're No. 1 in the
country, we're No. 1 seeds, we're playing in Final Fours."
Then he added, "My grandparents came through Ellis Island on my father's
side. They were uneducated. My grandfather worked in the coal mines in West
Virginia and died of black lung at age 58.
"My mother's family were from Webster Springs, West Virginia, dining on
dandelion soup. So I want you to know that my wife Ellen and I are not the
Grand Poobah. I'm not the emperor. That's not what I want to be. We're
regular people."
In his "Refuse to Lose" book, the new Kentucky boss said he got his
self-confident personality from his mother, Donna Calipari, saying she
talked about dreaming big dreams and not being afraid to feel special. She
told her young son that he can be anything he wants to be, including the
President of the U.S.
Some folks, including the published editorials, are questioning
Calipari's big paycheck which averages around $4 million a year.
I do agree that his contract is ridiculous, even more so with the U.S.
economy struggling. Yes, it's true that no one is actually worth that kind
of money even in the sports/entertainment industry.
However, if Kentucky is going to be the top basketball powerhouse, it
needs to pay top dollar to have the nation's highest-paid coach on hand.
Just like football power Alabama, whose coach Nick Saban reportedly has
an eight-year, $32 million pact. As you'll recall, Forbes magazine last fall
named Saban as the most powerful coach in sports.
Even Calipari is involved in the latest Internet craze.
In late April, it was announced the new coach has created his own
official Twitter account and the Wildcat fans can follow him at
twitter.com/UKCoachCalipari, receiving instant updates or "tweets" directly
from Calipari on the Internet or on their mobile phone.
Twitter is a free service that lets users keep in touch with people
through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What
are you doing?
It should be pointed out that there are many Twitter accounts and
Facebook fan pages who are dedicated to Calipari, but the one listed above
is the only Twitter entity that is officially sanctioned by UK Athletics
Department and Calipari.
According to his "tweets" on April 25, possible UK returnees Patrick
Patterson and Jodie Meeks, who are testing the NBA waters, both had
impressive individual workouts on campus. Calipari said Patterson "will be
unbelievable in this (dribble-drive motion) offense. People won't be able to
recognize him. Today, Jodie missed three shots in 45 minutes."
Jamie H. Vaught, whose syndicated sports column currently appears in
Kentucky newspapers, is the author of four books about UK basketball. He is
currently a professor at Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College
in Middlesboro and can be reached by e-mail at CatsUpClose2008@yahoo.com.