Vicky Graff Photo
John Calipari understands he’s the visiting coach coming into Rupp Arena Saturday night and knows Kentucky fans are not likely to give him an enthusiastic response on his return to Rupp Arena as coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks.
“I’m not expecting it, and not because of anything other than I’m the opposing coach now. I mean, again, they all remember what went on and where it started, and how we got it going, and that span of time,” Calipari said.
“It could be matched, but you’re going to have to really do some stuff. And I’m not just talking at Kentucky, I’m talking anywhere.”
Calipari did have a brilliant run immediately after he got to Kentucky with a national title in 2012 along with Final Four berths in 2011, 2014 and 2015.
“I’m an opposing coach walking in the building, and I get that,” Calipari said at his press conference Thursday. “I’m not bitter in any way. What I did (leaving Arkansas) was right for me and my family, but it was also right for Kentucky, and (coach) Mark Pope has done a fabulous job. He knows that program because he played in it.
“He was the right guy for that job, and I’m walking back into that environment, yeah, there may be some boos. There may be a lot of boos. That doesn’t change anything for me. It doesn’t change the history. It doesn’t change my history. None of that is my focus right now.”
Calipari said he did have a “soft spot” for Kentucky because of his 15 years there.
“We gave our heart and soul, and not only the basketball, yes, we did a lot of stuff in basketball during that time that was pretty special. But we also were involved in communities, when there was flooding, when there were hurricanes, [for] Superstorm Sandy we did stuff, stuff happened in Houston, different things within our state,” Calipari said.
“(My wife) Ellen (Calipari) and I did things that we didn’t want in the paper, that you just did with people that we knew or people that we felt we needed to help so and I want to do the same here.”
Calipari noted that you “can’t erase history” and he will have a variety of emotions at the game tonight.
“I cherish my time there, and so does Ellen and our family. Great friends, lifelong friends, they’ll be. Now, I want you to understand even my friends are Kentucky fans. They grew up with Kentucky, and they’re going to be Kentucky fans. Now, I hope they have red socks on, but that’s what it is,” Calipari said.
When he was coaching Kentucky, Calipari was often booed at rival arenas. He’s seen rival coaches booed when they came into Rupp Arena.
“I look forward to walking into the building as an opposing coach. I’m the opposing coach. I, in my time, I don’t remember them ever cheering an opposing coach,” Calipari said. “All I know is the fans, they’re terrific. They were terrific during our run. They’re engaged, and my guess is they’re going to be really engaged on Saturday.”
Really engaged? The atmosphere at Rupp Arena tonight will be insane. Calipari and Kentucky did not have a happy breakup and his return to Rupp has been talked about for months. Plus, it’s another big game for Pope and his team to boost their SEC standings.
Even Rick Pitino has expressed his opinion and asked UK fans to give Calipari a standing ovation. Remember Pitino and Calipari never got along as coaching rivals and Pitino knows UK fans are not likely to give any opposing SEC coach a standing ovation in Rupp Arena.
“Those fans are so engaged. Those fans travel. If you’re doing well, they’re crazy,” Calipari said when asked about Pitino’s plea. “If you’re doing poorly, they’re just as engaged. So I accept. I was there for 15 years. I love the fans there, but they’re engaged.”
One Response
CATS—its time to step up tonight and make 02/01/2025 another date in KY’s long history that we will never forget, and time to show the Snake Oil Salesmen that KING begins with a "K", not a "C"!! It continues to amaze me how enamored so many of our fans still are with this guy. So many people forget so many things so quickly, the kneeling being probably the biggest, and the censorship of certain CAT fans on certain platforms as a result of that. That’s all due to CAL, and that was when CAL let the state know that it was gonna be politics over KY BBALL from that day forward. And it came at such an already politically-charged time for the country and for society–it was like really, dude? KY BBALL is one of the few things a state like ours has that we can turn to as an escape, and a form of fun and recreation, when we need to break away from those difficult real-life things that surround us every day–then u go and inject all of that angst and turmoil STRAIGHT INTO OUR BBALL PROGRAM. I mean, for me, that would have done it if I had been the A.D. That’s when u know somebody has WAY TOO MUCH POWER. That is not part of your job, and not what we pay u for. I guess CAL believed he was doing something noble—-CRUSADER CAL. At that point, he was no longer anybody that I wanted to cheer for, and he was certainly not somebody that I viewed as being good for KY BBALL anymore. And the results the last 5 years certainly reflected his new attitude! Then the treatment of the fans and the UK sports media people–I mean I’ll be the first to tell u that I cannot stand Matt Jones, but CAL had no right to try to get Jones, or any other sports media member, FIRED!! I mean, talk about a power play! Like, who do u think u are, dude? I tell ya, if I were Jones, I would make damn sure I was in that arena tonight! But again, that’s another one of many reasons why we were losing to teams like St Peters and Oakland in the NCAA Tournament, and going 9-16, which was the worst season record in the history of KY BBALL, and winning only one game each in the SEC and NCAA Tournaments from 2019 to 2024. When the so-called KING was so enraged over what the largest UK media listening entity in the state was saying about him that he was working behind the scenes to try to actually get the guy fired, that should tell u everything u need to know about this guy. And again, there’s probly not alot of ppl who despise Matt Jones more than I do, so that should tell u something, but I despise CAL even more so. Those two people have absolutely no relatable people qualities whatsoever–they shove everything and everybody else to the side, they are totally obsessed with themselves, and they have the two biggest egos in this state. But aside from whatever my opinion is about Jones, he has the right to say whatever he wants about KY—i mean it’s HIS OWN UK SPORTS MEDIA ENTITY–ITS HIS SHOW–HE CAN SAY WHATEVER HE WANTS!! and what really amazes me is that just up until the last couple of years, there wasn’t a bigger CAL defender his entire time here than Matt Jones! So i don’t even know what CAL was so upset about. I mean, did he think everybody wasn’t finally going to start calling out the lousy patterns and lousy trend downwards that he sent this program on the last 5 years? The more of those kind of embarrassing NCAA losses and the more of the SEC Tourney losses—and how u could just see that, as the coach at KY, CAL had peaked. And he knew he had peaked. He was never the same after the WIS loss in 2015 that ended the season of perfection. More importantly, it ended what should have been his second championship. It wasn’t about finishing 40-0–it wasn’t supposed to be, nobody realistically expects that–but talent-wise, that was his second-best shot at a title at KY. And he knew it. The run in 2014 was a surprise–they weren’t SUPPOSED to be there that year. But in 2015, it was almost like that team was CAL’s version of UK’s 1996 natl championship team with Pitino. They had the best team and the best talent in all of college bball in 2015, and the whole country knew that going into the season, the same way that happened in ’96. I think the 2015 KY team was the Greatest Team Ever of the 21st century college bball teams, as far as TALENT and DEPTH goes. But to see that team denied at least a SHOT at that championship–just the opportunity to play for it–we might not have beaten DUKE because they were really strong that year–but all anybody ever wants is just the chance to compete. I swear, I believe if not for UCONN in the first half of the 20-teens, CAL would be looking at at least one more championship at KY, if not TWO! He was just absolutely cursed by UCONN—he could not beat Jim Calhoun to save his life. And TWICE they stood in our way of multiple championships. CAL brought multiple banners to KY–thats true–but he also could not close the deal in the biggest games, except for one. But there again, that goes back to CAL’s issues as a coach–with CAL, it was like the bigger the stakes got, the more u had to worry! And he almost blew the one championship we DID WIN by letting KAN come back from a 25+ point deficit in the second half and making it a 4-pt game with a min left–fortunately thank GOD for Anthony Davis!!! All Im saying is that AT LEAST ONE of those Final Four banners from the 20-teens that are hanging in RUPP should say national champion on them instead of Final 4. CAL in actuality was so close to being able to claim the title of the greatest of all-time, as far as the modern era goes. With maybe just one more win or no more than two, CAL would have been able to claim greater than Pitino at the college level, and would have topped COACH K as well, as far as the greatest coaches of the 21st century. All fans asked of CAL was for him to just get out of his own way, especially in these huge Final 4/championship/tournament games, and make KENTUCKY THE PRIORITY—as in, PUT KENTUCKY FIRST—-does that sound familiar??? Well, the time has now come–for KY AND FOR CAL–we now have a coach who is one of our own, a former KY BBALL natl championship winner, leading our program, and PUTTING KY FIRST—and CAL now taking his "philanthropist-dressed-as-a-bball-coach" dog-and-pony show" to the greener pastures of ARK, where the only things there that are blue are the sky, and their win-loss record in the SEC!!!! Step up, CATS–bring the ENERGY, bring the FIRE, bring the PASSION, and bring the SHOTS AND THE REBOUNDING—Its the Game Of The Year—and IT IS AN ABSOLUTE MUST-WIN!!!!!!!