John Calipari will not let unhappy fans steal his joy. (Photo by Jeff Houchin)
One thing has never changed with John Calipari since he got to Kentucky — he insists he does not pay attention to social media comments about the UK basketball program.
“If there’s something out there that I need to deal with, someone will come in and sit down and say, ‘This is out there,’” Calipari told former UK All-Americans Mike Pratt and Dan Issel on their ESPN Louisville radio show earlier this week.
He said that former UK coach Joe Hall was his “mentor, friend” but Hall along with former Kentucky coaches Eddie Sutton and Tubby Smith all had one message that Hall shared with him.
“Coach, there’s a part of this group, a small percentage that are never happy with anything. Don’t deal with them. Just know you got the best fanbase in the country. Sometimes they’re led to be that way. You got the best fanbase in the country,” Calipari said Hall told him.
“There is so much to being the coach here, the tax is there’s going to be some people that are not going to be happy ever. And that’s okay. But they’re not stealing my joy. It took me a long time to get this job, guys. My goal was to be in the hunt for a national championship every year. One year we weren’t, the COVID year. The year with Nerlens (Noel), if he doesn’t get hurt, we’re in the hunt.”
“Every other year, we’re in the hunt. Last year, did I like the finish (a NCAA loss to Saint Peter’s)? No. Made me want to throw up. But, you know what, there were only four teams ranked above us in the NCAA Tournament. We were in the hunt. And that will be going forward, including with kids.”
Calipari told Issel and Pratt that despite what some want to believe he’s continuing to receive support from Kentucky fans.
“I’m walking in a restaurant and people are yelling, ‘We love you coach.’ I’ve never had this much affection. In Orlando, I walk out of the hotel and a guy comes running, older guy, had a Kentucky shirt on, comes up behind me, ‘Coach, we love you. You keep doing what you’re doing,’” Calipari said.
“I’m in the coffee line, Dunkin Donuts, naturally, and a guy drives by and pulls in, ‘I saw you in there, I just wanted to tell you this.’ I’m in Indianapolis, people with Kentucky leaning over saying, ‘Coach.’ I was in Dawson Springs. Richard Harley, out of nowhere, finds out where we are at a Dairy Queen with my team and comes over and says, ‘Can I give you a hug? I love what you’re doing, I love this team. You keep doing what you’re doing.’”
Calipari told them it has been an “interesting run” at Kentucky and he’s not changing his focus.
“The bottom line is, I got a job and that is to put us in a position to win this national title and that’s what we’ll continue to do,” Calipari said.
29 Responses
Time for cal to go only championship inall these yrs and has set ky back in all the top stats and he will never win another championship.
Cal continues to BS anyone who listens,took him almost 2 months to come out of hiding after the embarrassing loss in tournament but the majority of BBN are starting to get restless with his politics and lack of production from his coaching…
Wow, I don’t know who is the more prolific liar…Calipari or Putin?
Amen brother!
He might of missed a couple of more years that we weren’t in the hunt but it is good to hear him talk about Championships, not the NBA.
I believe Jai Lucas leaving for Duke is bigger than anyone acknowledges.
Lucas leaving for Puke and a first year head coach proves Kentucky is Not the Gold Standard of basketball anymore and don’t have a hall of fame coach to learn from. Sad…Very Sad.
Last Year was his "last year" for me. The ND loss was horrible and I thought "here we go again" but then I went to the CBS Classic and saw them destroy NC and thought "OK it took a minute to get it together"
But there was really no excuse at the end. Yes players were injured because he didn’t sit them when they wanted to play. It’s not the player’s decisions it’s the coach. If he’d sat them in Feb they would have been ready in March. Might have lost some games but that’s OK.
I don’t feel he coaches. I feel he lets their natural talent wins game most of the time. Not going into the myriad of reasons this gets talked about (his coaching).
At this point an Elite Eight would get people off his backs but that’s not what we want. We want a championship.
Is it football season yet, it just don’t get here quick enough!!
WE are getting closer to football for sure
Cal does great work in the community, doesn’t embarrass the school off the court with inappropriate behavior, and is very supportive of all other programs at KY. Have to give him props for the above
On the other hand, he’s just a fair or mediocre coach.
Seems like a puff piece meant to prop up a faltering coach. I’m around alot of once true blue kentucky fans, and all of them are ready for cal to leave.
Mitch barnhart made him alil to comfortable within in his job, and Both need to go imho. Any fan running up to cal now a days saying that they love him are an embarrassment and do not reflect the growing number of sports fans that I know.
Not a puff piece. Merely reporting what the coach said. You interpret those comments how you want
I was very upset when we lost to St.Mary’s, but did I think Coach Cal needed to be fired? NO!!! He had been a wonderful leader for Kentucky Men’s Basketball since he came here an I am looking forward to many more winning seasons with him in charge & I know there will be many!
Calipari regularly tells the fans “winning championships is not my job.” Instead he prioritizes taking Blue Chip NBA bound kids, netting 20+ wins a season on talent alone then taking credit for them getting drafted at the end of the season. Fans are tired of the revolving door of talent and getting beaten in the early rounds of March Madness.
Lot of disgruntled people. I hope this years team win it all if not go to the final four. Just to see what type of hate come out from their mouth then.
Steven, I am not sure we will even be in the Big Dance next year, much less go to a Final 4. We have a bunch of guards who are more concerned about improving their NBA draft stock than winning. The saddest thing is Calipari thinks that way too.
Hey everyone the world is still spinning, let’s move on until next season arrives. Cat will be fine.
You know basketball is a 12-month a year topic in Kentucky
despite his nonstop assertions to the contrary, Calipari is fully aware of the criticism he gets from a huge segment of the fan base. These type of comments and statements are his carefully design counter in an attempt to diffuse the criticism and marginalize those who are being critical.
However, it is not working. There was more criticism a year ago than there had been 2 years ago, and there is more today than a year ago.
In 12 months from now, revisit this issue and I believe you will find even more fans willing to speak out against this fraud than are doing so today.
Proffessor I respect your comments and so others, I been a fan of cats basketball since the late 60’s as you know the program has endure the ups and downs through out the time frame it’s not like we’re at our lowest point at this point. The lowest point was when the NCAA hammer us back in 1989 over a blackmail fraud that our own UK top administration wouldn’t stand up for the violations. There’s is lot of good what Cal has done then bad and yes I do question his ability how to coach a game. People he’s here regardless and I have confidence he can bring the program back were it should be because he knows the pressure is there from here on out.
It will never be good enough for some people. Impossible expectations. Please tell me actual coaching candidate that is possible that is definite upgrade? Noone. U will miss him when he’s gone. Aside from ucla, we have most titles. Been playing bball for over 120 years. Titles don’t come easy in this sport. But Cal should win one every 3 years, right? Lol. Idiots.
This program is no longer a contender every year.
As for the lowest point in history (since Rupp arrived), this is it.
The Sutton era and the NCAA sanctions hurt, but Pitino was able to turn that situation around on a dime because the damage was not structural,
Tubby Smith took this program to mediocrity due to weak recruiting, but his players played hard and generally overperformed., Again, the damage Tubby caused to the program was not structural, and despite the bad hire of Gillispie, Calipari was able to bring the program back to national status quickly.
However, Calipari’s NBA emphasis has taken its toll on the program, and as far as I am concerned, the program has sustained structural damage that will take significant time to reverse, whoever comes next. In addition, unlike Tubby’s tenure when players overachieved, Calipari’s players (as college players) are underachieving., and I don’t give a rats A#%^ what they do once they move on to the NBA.
Calipari has been dismissive of the fan base and insults our intelligence with his non-stop blathering.
The real verdict against Calipari will be all of the empty seats in Rupp Arena on game day.
That will depend a lot on schedule
WHY DONT ALL YALL FAKE ASS FANS OF BBN,STOP BASHING COACH CAL,LAST TOME I CHECKED CALIPARI DIDN’T MISS 18 FREE THROWS AGAINST ST PETERS AND 7 IN OVERTIME,IT AINT ALL COACHING ,THE PLAYERS MISSED ALOT OF EASY SHOTS IN THAT GAME, WE GOT OUTPLAYED IN THAT GAME NOT OUT-COACHED,SO IF KEEP CRYING ITS ALL CALIPARI YOU CLEARLY DONT WATCH THE GAMES,SO GO ROOT FOR LOUISVILLE OR DUKE AND SHUT UP CRYING KENTUCKY WILL BE BACK ON TOP,NAME ONE COACH THAT COULD HANDLE THE PRESSURE OF COACHING AT KENTUCKY AND BRING IN ELITE TALENT YEAR AFTER YEAR ,AND DO AS GOOD AS CALIPARI THERES NOT MANY MAYBE 2, JAY WRIGHT, AND MAYBE BRUCE PEARL,SO QUIYTCRYING AND BE A REAL FAN OR GO TO LOUISVILLE
Hey Samuel I edited out one word that we don’t use here
Hey sam, cal runs an offense that is geared to taking defenders off the dribble and picking up fouls, yet he doesn’t put an emphasis on practicing free throws. That’s bad coaching.
Your post lacks coherency and is void of actual worth while debate. Just more weak excuses for a guy that isn’t getting it done.
Calapari is blowing BS as usual. 80+ percent of BBN wants his ass gone And literally cannot stand the guy. People are so anti-Cal they don’t care whether the cats win or lose. So tired of a guy that can’t even form a sentence much less coach basketball game. It would take a 10 page paper to outline his coaching deficiencies