Vicky Graff Photo
Former LSU men’s basketball coach Dale Brown had a 59.8 winning percentage (448-301) in his 25-year career at LSU when he won four Southeastern Conference championships, took 13 teams to the NCAA Tournament and made the Final Four twice.
Brown is also a long-time friend/supporter of Kentucky coach John Calipari and it was no surprise he reached out to me Monday after news broke Sunday that Calipari was leaving Kentucky after 15 years to become the head coach at Arkansas.
Brown usually checked with me two or three times per season to talk about Kentucky basketball and how things were going for Calipari. He understood the pressure of coaching at Kentucky but also how college basketball had changed.
Enjoy the words of wisdom that Brown sent me:
“Knowing when to quit is a rarity. Every life has a cycle, and too many coaches stay longer than they should and they actually reduce the value of their wonderful accomplishments.
“Let me give you some paramount examples of this:
“1.Eleven coaches that won an NCAA Championship were fired from the school they led to the national championship or at another institution.
“2. Twenty one coaches that one time in their careers were selected as National Coach of the Year were fired.
“Famous journalist and author John Feinstein so profoundly described the coaching profession when he said, ‘Coaching can be a joyless job, especially at the top, No matter what you do, no matter how much you win, there will always be more demanded.’
“My friend, the late Bill Libby, in his book, The Coaches, said, ‘He is called Coach. It is a difficult job, and there is no clear way to succeed in it. Those who have succeeded and those who have failed represent all kinds – young and old, inexperienced and experienced, hard and soft, tough and gentle, good-natured and foul-tempered, proud and profane, articulate and inarticulate, dedicated and casual. Most are dedicated, some more than others, and just wanting to win is not enough in any event. Even winning is not enough. Losers always get fired, but winners get fired too. I have seen some broken and bitter by the job and others die from it.’
“The word coach was first used back in the 1500s in England. A coach was a horse drawn carriage used to transport a person from where he or she is to where he or she wants to be, needs to be, or ought to be going.
“All these years later, that is exactly what coaching should be about but this is most difficult to follow because of the pressure to win. Measuring the success of a coach shouldn’t have anything to do with league titles, state championships, national rankings or national titles. It should have everything to do with directing a program ethically and making good use of the power coaches have to reach and teach young people about issues and ideas that will carry them not only through a season … but through a lifetime.”
Obviously Calipari’s decision brought responses from everyone from fans to coaches to players to media members. However, perhaps the one comment that resonated the most with me came from Kendra Randle, the wife of former UK star Julius Randle. He was a one-and-done star for UK’s 2014 team that lost in the national title game to UConn.
“The impact and excitement you brought Kentucky as a whole will never be forgotten but our family specially will never forget that. Just a small example of how much he loves his players truly. We love you coach!” Kendra Randle posted on X to point out exactly the point Brown was making about coaches teaching lessons that last a lifetime.
3 Responses
He brought the players alot of money. He brought the fans much excitement his first 8 years. But the last 7 years have changed my perception on him. He said when he came he would be here 10 years and if he would have stayed 10 years he would have probably been the most loved coach in Kentucky history. But I think he wore out his welcome. College basketball is 24/7 365. Once a man gets in his 60s its harder to put the same motivation in and hard work because he accomplished so much in so little time here. He should have took the Lakers job in 2019 were you don’t have to recruit and in the last 5 years the transfer portal and nil changed basketball even more. Gone are the days of come here and next year I will make you millions. 2024 is come to my college and ill get you millions of dollars. I think he hasn’t adapted to the college game. Gone are the years when a recruit would sign and stay the course even if they don’t get much playing time. The transfer portal has made it where you can be terrible one year and the next year go to the final four if you get the right transfers. Notice I didn’t say recruits. Look at Dalton knect for Tennessee. It took him 5 years to be great at Tennessee. If he would have came to Tennessee his freshman year he wouldn’t have played until his junior year. It took him 4 years playing in division 2 to grow into the player that he is. Would he have gotten that good from sitting on the bench at Tennessee I don’t think so. You get better from playing the game in game situations. Rebuilds are much easier now if your get the right personnel in the transfer portal. Success doesn’t come with one and dones and high school recruits. Now if you take 2 or 3 freshman every year you can get away with it. But Calapari should have recruited 3 great transfers and 3 great recruits every year instead of 6 great recruits or 7 recruits every year. In 2024 you will get destroyed by teams that start all seniors and 2 grad transfers. That’s 22 , 23, and 24 year old men playing against 17 , 18, 19 year old teenagers. That’s a major difference in in their bodies. The older players are fully developed. Teenagers have to grow into there body. If I was Cal I would have gotten as many transfers that were proven great college players over freshman who have never played college ball. Like I said its ok to get a couple elite high school recruits but in college basketball in 2024 the game has completely changed. Cal would rather have a 5* freshman than a 4* junior or senior that averaged 18-25 ppg in college. This is what has led to his demise at Kentucky. A player ranked #40 in high school by the time its their junior year they are 10 times better than the #2 or #3 freshman. They have experience, they have been there and done that. Calapari is what younger kids call outdated. Unless he changes his ways it will be the same way at Arkansas. Of course Julius Randles wife takes up for Calapari because its her husbands college coach. But Randle played when they great freshman could still dominate. Plus if Julius Candle would have went to UNLV or Xavier or Purdue or Western Kentucky he still would have been one of the best post players in college basketball and he would have still signed a multi millIon dollar contract. Calapari didn’t make Julius Randle, John Wall, demarcus cousins, Karl Anthony towns , malik monk. These players made calapari. Calapari didn’t make any of them. They we’re the best high school players in the nation. All calapari did was let them play wide open but any other greats that came to Kentucky he would have did the same thing any where else and they probably would have done better not surrounded by high school all stars who all want to be the man. Thanks for what you did Calapari it was fun while it lasted (the first ten years) then you fell to adapt to the college game Beck you couldn’t even adapt to the game at hand. So long old friend and good luck with the teenagers in Fayetteville.
TJ, I have to agree with much, if not all, that you have said. All anyone has to do is look at last years team. Who is the one player that never failed to show up? Who was the most consistent player? Who never backed down? Antonio Reeves is that player because of his age and his experience.
We would have had two of those types of players if Mitchell had not gotten hurt, but he just wasn’t the same when he returned.
Imagine a team with 4, 5, 6 of those types of players. Neither one was an elite high school player but knew how to play the game from playing the game.
Look at the 4 teams that made the final 4 and you will see what an impact these types of players are having on the game today.
Cal could have still put many one and dones into the NBA while still winning games at UK, but that is not the direction he wanted to take.
Yes I know. What made calapari getting the one and comes when one and dones could compete in college basketball. In today’s college basketball it just don’t work. You can have maybe 1 freshman starting or maybe even 2 if they are surrounded with juniors and seniors, but all freshman will never work again. I like the way nate oats mixes up the best recruits with proven transfers that are upperclassmen and that’s why he has had success at Alabama the last 5 years. If Calculating would have just signed 3 or 4 at the most freshman then recruited 3 or 4 juniors and seniors that are proven winners in college basketball he would still be loved by the fans and he would have never fallen off. He just can’t adapt. The class he has coming in next year has 2 or 3 college ready players. I think boogie fland, somto Cyril and Quaintence are college ready the rest wont do much. Like this past year. Reed, Rob, and maybe Wagner were ready but everyone else struggled bad. Even Wagner struggled and Reed and Rob were inconsistent. That comes with being freshman. Instead of taking on 8 or 9 freshman like he did he should have recruited 4 transfers and 4 freshman. Because the players on the end of the bench won’t play anyway that give you with Mitchell and Reeves 10 capable players. Instead we had 9 freshman and 2 seniors and 2 sophomores who struggled very bad their freshman years. I hope Reed comes back and doesn’t let Kentucky slide as much as they will if everyone leaves. No matter who takes over the program I expect growing pains the first year. If reed big z Burks and 1 other player came back and Perry comes to Kentucky that’s 5 capable players. Then go get 4-5 transfers and you can go 10 deep. I wish Hart would have stayed with the right coach he would would have got more playing time this year and could have been a key reserve for Kentucky next year. He’s very athletic and can shoot the lights out. But we will see how it is going forward.