If you’re tired of people talking about Kentucky’s decision not to play Indiana… and John Calipari’s decision to start scheduling as a “non-traditional” program, you’re not alone.  Coach Cal himself seems to be getting tired of the feedback.

According to The Louisville Courier-Journal, Calipari responded yesterday to a question about the IU/UK series with “a 585-word rant.”  The coach said he hears from fans who say, “Schedule for America!”  His reply?  “I’m not scheduling for America, I’m scheduling for us.”

And there was more.  Much, much more:

“So what we’re doing is what’s right for our program.  (Indiana coach) Tommy (Crean), move on.  It’s done.  We’re good.  I’m good.  You’re good.  You have your schedule.  We have our schedule…

‘Why don’t you play each other?’  Because.  ‘What do you mean because?’  Because, because, because.”

Question: If another program refused to play Kentucky on its terms and that coach’s rationale was “because, because, because,” how do you think Wildcat fans would react?

But I digress.

Eventually, Calipari turned the conversation toward his decision to play more games at neutral sites and fewer as home-and-home series.  “Well, why would you do that?” he asked rhetorically.  “Because we can and no one else can.”

He then went on to say — according to The Courier-Journal — “he has some wild ideas that would make some people ‘very angry’ and prompt others to wonder, ‘When did they have the time to think this stuff up?’”

Like the men’s basketball / women’s basketball / football tripleheader he spitballed last week?  Yep.

“I want to play a tripleheader so bad,” Calipari said.  “You have no idea how I want to do a tripleheader now… and just overrun a city.”

We’ll just say what we said when Calipari first claimed a couple of months ago that he basically wanted to turn Kentucky basketball into a college version of the barnstorming Harlem Globetrotters — What’s wrong with playing games on campus?

Calipari has been a terrific boost for Wildcat basketball and the SEC as a whole.  He’s part Bill Veeck and part PT Barnum with a pinch of the best recruiter the world’s ever seen mixed in for kicks.  Even so, at some point a Kentucky fan or two might just get tired of “overrunning” other cities and decide that UK needs to care of its hometown ticket buyers, too.

Last week it was learned that true freshman Florida linebacker Graham Stewart planned to transfer.  Will Muschamp put no restrictions or limitations on the kid’s options and Stewart — a Connecticut native — has decided to play at UConn instead of for the Gators.  Florida’s coach plans on taking an extra step for Stewart as well:

“I’m going to petition the NCAA for him to be eligible immediately.  He’s a great kid.  A family situation occurs like that and you’re so far from home, you deserve to have that opportunity and not have any penalty for it.”

Muschamp said last week that Stewart told him “he wanted to leave to get closer to home due to some personal issues.”

Kudos to Florida’s coach for showing some heart.  Whether it’s Mark Richt’s open door policy for transfers or John Calipari’s desire to push his players to the pros as soon as possible, these types of stances have to help coaches on the recruiting trail.

Too bad more coaches don’t realize that.

Every spring the rumors start to spread.  ”Team X is interested in Kentucky coach John Calipari and he might finally be ready to return to the NBA.”  Usually “Team X” is the New York Knickerbockers.  And that’s the case this spring as well.

But just as the rumors begin every spring, Calipari — like clockwork — shoots them down each April, May and June.  He’s done so again, yesterday telling The New York Daily News that the Knicks should stick with the interim coach they have in place now:

“Mike Woodson is a dear friend of mine and he is doing an unbelieveable job and he has gotten Carmelo (Anthony) to be the Carmelo he needs to be to win.  And I got the best job in basketball, in my opinion.  You don’t need to make decisions financially, which I did the last time when I went to the Nets.  Fifteen million back in 1996, when you’re a kid, is like $30 million now.  At Kentucky, you can win championships.  And you have a stage that really helps the young people.”

So will that be the last of the Calipari-to-the-NBA talk?  Nope.  That’s about as likely as the NCAA looking the other way when the slightest question is raised about Cal or one of his signees.

As we said earlier today, it’s all part of the Calipari package.

Over the weekend, John Calipari took to his own website — CoachCal.com – to try to explain to Kentucky fans why his “nontraditional” program needed to schedule differently than other programs.  We’ve talked about the issue yesterday and today already.  Calipari’s goal is to play more marquee games on neutral courts.  Visiting fewer “name” programs campuses means fewer “name” programs will visit Rupp Arena and we at MrSEC.com think that’s a shame for UK fans.

Apparently we’re not alone in that view.  In fact, two Lexington writers are pooh-poohing Calipari’s explanation.

Mark Story of The Lexington Herald-Leader lays out a number of topics today and assesses each as being either fact or fiction.  Here’s an excerpt:

“In a scheduling missive he posted on his personal Web site on Sunday night, John Calipari claims that signing contracts for longer than two years for annual rivalry games with Louisville, Indiana and North Carolina potentially puts Kentucky — with its full embrace of one-and-done players and the annually in-flux rosters that have resulted — in a situation that is unfair to UK’s players.

Verdict:  Fiction.”

Story’s colleague at The Herald-Leader, John Clay, also takes exception to Calipari’s spin job:

“John Calipari might be college basketball’s greatest salesman, but, sorry, I’m not buying this one.

Nerlens Noel is being viewed by many as the man who’ll step in at Kentucky and pick up right where Anthony Davis left off.  They forget, of course, that Billy Donovan called Davis one of the game’s “all-time” greats.  Those are big shoes to fill… even for Noel.

Commenting on his new signee, John Calipari compared Noel to Davis and another of this previous greats.  But he also points out the youngster has some work to do:

“I’ve been blessed three times in my career to have a player that can change the game without really scoring with Marcus Camby, Anthony Davis and now Nerlens Noel.  I will tell you that Nerlens, just like Anthony, is not a finished product. He’s got a lot of work to do, and we have a lot of work to do to get him to where I think he’s capable of being, but he is a special player who I am ecstatic to have an opportunity to work with.”

Wildcat fans would be wise to temper their expectations for Noel.  He may be a tremendous player.  But guys like Davis don’t come along too often.

John Clay of The Lexington Herald-Leader doesn’t sound like a man who thinks John Calipari will be leaving for the NBA’s New York Knicks anytime soon.  And it doesn’t sound like he believes Calipari’s first national title will be his last.

An excerpt from his column today:


“Outside (UK’s locker room on Monday night) stood John Calipari, weary and happy and a tad defiant.

‘There’s a lot of angry people right now, that said you couldn’t do it,’ the Kentucky coach was saying.  ‘Tried to put the black hat on me and all that stuff.  They’re not real happy.’

Those mad men (and women) better get used to it.

Monday night wasn’t the end of something, it was probably the beginning.

‘If this was 1985, I’d have all these guys back and we’d be trying to go undefeated next year,’ he said.  ‘It’s not 25 years ago.  It’s now.’

No one has figured out ‘now’ better than John Calipari.”


Indeed he has.  UK could possibly lose its entire starting lineup to the NBA Draft this summer.  We’ll know next Tuesday who all is a’ goin’ and who all is a’ stayin’.

But is there any doubt that Calipari will simply reload with five of the best recruits in the nation if/when that happens?  And after three years of doing things his way, Coach Cal’s track record looks pretty good: Elite Eight, Final Four, national title.

Whether kids arriving, playing and leaving in seven-month intervals makes a mockery of “college” basketball or not, Calipari didn’t create the rule.  He just knows how to win while using it.

Clay is probably right, SEC fans.  Kentucky and Calipari are on a roll.  Eventually the coach will land some kids who won’t have the attitude to buy into his team-first philosophy, but he hasn’t yet.  (And if he has, they’ve made it at least as far as the Elite Eight anyway).

The only thing that can run UK off the tracks at this point is a Calipari departure or some sort of NCAA bust.  And as we noted earlier today, Calipari’s never been caught doing anything wrong despite the fact that he’s the most-eyeballed coach in the country.

So get used to it.  Just as Alabama will be the SEC favorite in most years so long as Nick Saban is in Tuscaloosa, Kentucky will be the league favorite in hoops just as long as Calipari is kicking around Lexington.

The league’s traditional powers both look as if they’re just getting started.

Former Maryland coach Gary Williams started it.  He told a Washington, DC radio station that he believe Kentucky could win a one-game matchup with the NBA’s Washington Wizards at Rupp Arena.

A current NBA coach thinks the ex-college coach is daffy.

Stan Van Gundy of the Orlando Magic — a man who never has a problem speaking his mind — said flatly yesterday:


“Look, it’s absurd.  I mean, people will say, ‘Oh, Kentucky, you know’s, got four NBA players.  Yeah, well, the other team’s got 13.

Could anything happen on a one-night thing?  I mean, I suppose, you have major upsets all the time.  So, maybe, but it’d be rare and in a series it’d be a joke.  It wouldn’t be close.  That’s just the way it is.  John Calipari’s got a lot of talent; he does not have 13 NBA players.  He just doesn’t.  And even if those guys all are, they’re all NBA rookies.  I mean, when has that ever been a success in the NBA?  So, no, they’re not going to win.”


Ah, but about that “you have major upsets all the time” comment?

1.  Here are some first impressions from Day One of Auburn’s spring drills.

2.  Two new coordinators are giving the Tigers a different look.

3.  Mike Anderson wants his Arkansas basketball team to be tougher next year (and he hopes a trip to Italy will help).

4.  The UAB football program hired an Arkansas assistant for its head coach this offseason… and now Arkansas hoops assistant TJ Cleveland is in the mix for UAB’s open basketball job.

5.  A lighter Spencer Ware is part of a crowded backfield at LSU.

6.  This writer believes Andy Kennedy would be a smart choice for UAB.

7.  Kennedy’s new boss — at least for now — is Ole Miss AD Ross Bjork who was introduced yesterday in Oxford…

8.  And none other than Archie Manning called for the Rebel fanbase to unite behind him.

9.  UM also has quite a few questions to answer on the football front as spring practice opens today.

10.  Mississippi State’s Arnett Moultrie will announce his NBA decision on Monday.

11.  Florida wants to create more turnovers on defense in Will Muschamp’s second year.

12.  New offensive coordinator Brent Pease likes what he’s seen from wideout Quinton Dunbar.

13.  Backup quarterback Hutson Mason is happy he didn’t transfer from Georgia.

14.  Mark Richt thinks O-lineman Kolton Houston — sidelined all last year with an “NCAA issue — will be eligible to play this fall.

15.  John Calipari and Tom Crean — buddies off the court — will battle for a spot in the Elite Eight tonight when Kentucky and Indiana meet.

16.  Forbes Magazine says John Calipari is the most overpaid college basketball coach in America.

17.  So is Michael Kidd-Gilchrist going pro or not?

18.  Tailback Kenny Miles is looking good this spring, but he’s still not told South Carolina coaches if he’ll definitely play ball this fall.

19.  Ohio’s DJ Cooper — who along with his parents claimed last week that ex-Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl was one of several coaches who tried to lure him into a transfer — has now backtracked completely.

20.  There’s now optimism in the UT basketball program under Cuonzo Martin.

For Kentucky fans, Friday’s game with Indiana provides a shot at revenge.  The Wildcats lost just two games all year and the first of those was on a buzzer-beater in Bloomington back before Christmas.

But UK’s coach is more focused on just getting his team through to the next round.  Vengeance is never a card John Calipari pulls from the coaching deck:


“I don’t ever teach anger.  Because the physiology of that is really close to fear.  So if you try to make your team angry, and things don’t go right, it turns to fear withing their bodies.  So I don’t do it.”


So Khan he is not.

Too bad. 

‘Cause something like this from the NCAA podium would have been a lot more fun:

After seeing Kentucky up close and personal in a 78-58 loss last night, Florida’s Billy Donovan has high praise for John Calipari’s team:


“The one thing I like about their team is I love their disposition on the floor.  There’s a certain disposition you have to have and I’m not talking about an arrogance or a cockiness, but there’s like a focus level in terms of what really goes into winning at that level.  There’s a mentality there.”


Donovan — whose Gators lost to #2 Syracuse earlier this season — also said #1 Kentucky has a bit more talent than the Orange in that they have six future NBA first-round picks on their roster.  Still, “it would be a heck of a game,” he said.