Zvonimir Ivisic with John Calipari Thursday. (UK Athletics Photo)
Kentucky basketball’s Pro Day has become an annual showcase for current UK players to show off their skills for NBA scouts/personnel as well as a great promotional/recruiting tool for coach John Calipari.
Even though Wednesday night’s Pro Day was on ESPN+ and SEC Network+, once again it was a showcase for Calipari because he spent a lot of time on ESPN’s SportsCenter with Kevin Neghandi and Seth Greenberg.
He told the ESPN audience that he came up with the idea for Pro Day before the 2014-15 season because he had so many talented players. That was the “platoon” season where UK started the season 38-0 before losing to Wisconsin in the Final Four.
“We did it because that was the year I had guys come back. I had 10 players and I was going to have to platoon,” Calipari said. “So I said let’s show them off before the year, let’s see what happens, and then we just did it every year.
“Other teams are doing it and I’m happy. It gives all these young people a chance to be seen in this setting, which is a little easier. It’s a little bit of a pickup, they’re a little looser.”
Calipari acknowledged success at UK is not defined by a 25-win season but how the team fares in NCAA Tournament play and that “at the end of the year you are one of those teams” competing for a title.
“We could have won a national title with Maxey, Quickley (the year COVID cancelled the NCAA Tournament). But at Kentucky winning 25 games and you are not in the Final Four is not Kentucky good. Now let’s see where we are. Nothing changes. It doesn’t matter what you did a year ago,” Calipari said.
Kentucky did not make the NCAA three years ago. Two years ago it lost in the first round. Last season it was eliminated in the second round.
“We have a really talented group but we need a talented big or two,” Calipari said.
He got one when 7-2 Croatian Zvonimir Ivisic finally got to Lexington. Now he just has to be declared eligible by the NCAA which could take a while. However, 7-footers Aaron Bradshaw and Ugonna Onyenso both remain out for at least four to five more weeks with foot injuries.
Calipari said the one thing that keeps him up at night is “that we are not going to have that big” this season.
“You must have rim protection. If you don’t have a post presence, your team is a fraud,” Calipari said.
3 Responses
It’s too bad he didn’t think this way when he came to Kentucky. Maybe NIL has thrown a wrench into his kickback arrangement for OAD. Even if we were to win 4 national titles in a row now, I would still wish that this flim flam man had never come to Kentucky.
If we were to win 4 championships in a row I would be in support of putting up a statue of him.
Calipari showed me his true colors when he first came to coach UK. He bragged he would throw the pass on a fast break just a little behind his teammate so that the teammate had to throw the ball back to Calipari. It is always about "Calipari". He has only won one NCAA in his dozen or so years at UK.
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