Kentucky head coach John Calipari has done this before. Though they have asterisks next to them, he made Final Four appearances with Massachusetts and Memphis.
He is one of the more highly-touted names in the business, but by no means does he claim to be all-knowing.
“Let me explain to all that are listening,” Calipari said during a teleconference. “I do not have this figured out. One of the reasons we lost six close games in our league is I was trying to figure it out with my team. We wanted to put it on individual players. It wasn’t about our team. We didn’t know how to finish a game yet because I hadn’t figured out my team yet.”
No matter where Calipari goes he has attracted talent, a credit to his recruiting skills. Last season’s Wildcat team had four freshman selected in the first round of the NBA draft all before the 20th pick.
But with all the departures, it has hardly been a re-building season for Kentucky. The Wildcats were nationally-ranked all season and were the champions of the SEC tournament. The fresmen tandem of Terrence Jones and Brandon Knight combined for over 30 points a game, showing there is no loss for NBA-caliber talent in Lexington.
Calipari has a chance at winning his first national championship this weekend, but even if that happens don’t expect him to admit mastery of the sport.
“I don’t think you ever feel validated in this profession because this is kind of like golf,” Calipari said. “You think you’ve got it figured out, you get humbled real quick. This is a humbling profession. It’s very, very hard. It can be very rewarding, but it also could be one of those things that you get slapped in the mouth when you really think: I got this figured out.”
-John Brannen
