John Calipari on Mike Pratt: We lost one of the greatest ambassadors this program has ever known

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Mike Pratt got his final goodbye from Kentucky basketball Friday in Memorial Coliseum.

Pratt played at Kentucky with Dan Issel for coach Adolph Rupp and scored 1,359 points and earned All-American and all-SEC honors. Since 2001, he has been the analyst for the UK Radio Network.

He passed away June 16 after a nearly three-year battle with cancer and Friday there was a celebration of life service for him at Memorial Coliseum — the same place Pratt played and sometimes combined with Issel to sneak friends into games without Rupp knowing.

The entire Kentucky basketball team was at the service wearing black polo shirts in honor of Pratt and I know how much that meant to him because if there was ever a player’s first person, it was Pratt.

Kentucky coach John Calipari spoke at the service. He’s been friends with Pratt since he took the job and Pratt was on the search committee that picked Calipari. Pratt had no worries with Calipari’s past and thought he would be perfect for UK. Calipari’s love and admiration for Pratt was evident during the remarks the coach made at the service.

Here is what Calipari said:

“I want to recognize our team that’s here today. Many of them were with Mike as we traveled and he did radio interviews. I would imagine the four or five that weren’t after hearing all of this will be disappointed they never got the chance to meet Mike.”

“It’s been a tough year for the Kentucky basketball family. We’ve lost three pioneers this year, and all three have made a tremendous impact within this program. We lost my mentor and friend, coach Joe B. Hall, who recruited Mike. We lost a good friend who I worked with at the University of Pittsburgh, Reggie Warford, who continues to impact this program with what he was able to do.”

“Then there’s Mike. We lost one of the greatest ambassadors this program has ever known. Mike Pratt loved the University of Kentucky from the moment he stepped on this campus in 1966. He spent a lifetime giving himself to the betterment of this program and inspiring others to love this game and this program as much as he did. He bled blue through and through.”

“(My wife) Ellen and I owe Mike a lot. I know I’ve talked about this, but Mike is a big reason why I have this opportunity of serving this program and being the head coach. When the university reached out to Mike, the program was struggling and they asked him to be on the search committee. Not a day goes by that I don’t thank God for Mike’s confidence in me to take over the program that was such an important part of his life.”

“He had a presence about him that was one of a kind. I think the best compliment you could pay a person is that you feel better after you spent time with him. That was Mike. From the first time I met him, he was family. What I learned over the years while traveling with him was that he was family with a lot of people. Mike connected in personal, special ways with every person he crossed paths with. I’m just thankful he crossed mine.”

“In a competitive environment in the world that is judged by wins and losses, Mike never allowed the downs of the day to drain his spirit. You think of the competitive environment he’s been in as a player, as a coach, in the media, in business.”

“Not one person has ever said a bad thing about Mike Pratt. Not one. That’s how special he was, and that’s what I’ll remember most about Mike. He played with class, he coached with class, he worked with class, he loved with class, and he treated everyone he came in contact with with class. He gave up himself in any given moment. A fan, a coworker, one of our players, our staff, my wife. We talked about him last night, she said, ‘He was so kind to me every game.’”

“We always got the best of Mike Pratt. Mike knew that Kentucky and Big Blue Nation loved him. They will never forget what he did as a player, and later as a connection for this program. Mike climbed the ladder of success, and he picked up the next person. All of us in here can think about that and say, ‘You know what? He picked me up.’”

“We should all be thankful he was in our lives. I know my life has been blessed for the better because I had the opportunity to call him my friend.”

Well said John Calipari and rest in peace Mike Pratt … or at least until we hopefully see your jersey hanging soon in the Rupp Arena rafters where it belongs.