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Men's Basketball

John Calipari Willing to Go Over Mitch Barnhart, “Demands” New Practice Facility

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2 years ago

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Photo by Chet White | UK Athletics

Since the start of the offseason, one of the major headlines has been John Calipari’s desire for a new practice facility and the resistance he has been met with from Mitch Barnhart

Kentucky basketball is one of the greatest brands in sports, but Calipari has cited on several occasions that the practice facility is no longer up to the gold standard, which he says is “unacceptable”.

In one such instance, Calipari talked about the Philadelphia Phillies visiting Lexington and taking a look at UK’s athletic facilities. Being impressed with the baseball, football, and soccer facilities, they had high expectations for the basketball facilities. However, they were let down.

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Then just last week, the ceiling began to leak during practice. While this is a minor repair, it doesn’t give the best optics of an elite facility and is something that other schools can use to recruit against the Wildcats.

Citing the improvement of facilities around campus and for other sports programs, Calipari says it’s time to do the same for basketball. According to Kyle Tucker of The Athletic, Cal is not going to wait any longer, and with or without the help of Mitch Barnhart, he hopes to have a new or upgraded facility done, “in a year, two years.”

“Everybody should be behind this. Our administration. Look, our baseball facility might be the nicest in the country, and I’m happy about that. Our football facility, we spent $200 million. Soccer, unbelievable. Now, the track — I love it. And now, I would say, the administration should be like, we’re doing this. How about the state? If this is the University for Kentucky, and it’s the basketball program for the state, which it is, how about the state says, ‘We’re in. We’re gonna invest.’ I’ll tell you right now, Anthony Davis gave $350,000 on a text to me (for flood relief). Do you know what our former players would do? They just gotta see it: What is it? So it’s the next challenge that we all have.”

As said in the quote, if Calipari is forced to raise the money on his own, he will, just as he did in 2012 with the locker rooms.

The biggest sources of money will come from former players, notably those from the Calipari era, who have earned over $2 billion in career earnings. In addition, Cal hopes that the state will invest as well and even believes that the Big Blue Nation would give saying, “I think you would have people give to it. That’s one thing people in this state will give to: men’s basketball. Oh, they’ll give.”

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Within the new facility, Calipari wants to include the history of Kentucky basketball, giving Big Blue Nation, college sports fans, and tourists, in general, an interactive experience and an opportunity to learn about the program’s storied past.

“How about (we build something) where people from east and west can come and there’s the history of this program. Interactive. How about players interviewed about their experiences here, their recollection of their time. Anthony Davis, John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins — there’s 50 of them! — where you could see them talking about their experience, where you go to the wall and press their picture and they talk. They will give to something like that. These kids will.”

Since the loss to Saint Peter’s, a fire has been reignited for Calipari, as he has been a man on a mission and proving that he has still got it by signing multiple five-star recruits, changing his recruiting approach, pushing to reignite Big Blue Madness, and reconnecting to the Big Blue Nation.

With that said, this new facility is the “next challenge”.

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Men's Basketball

Kentucky Basketball Players Say They Think About Winning National Championship “Every Second”

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4 days ago

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November 18, 2024

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Kentucky basketball players celebrate after their big over Duke.
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The expectations at Kentucky are the highest of any school in the country, and there is good reason why. The winningest college program ever. Eight national titles, under five different coaches. Seventeen Final Four appearances. You get it, a lot of success.

Fans want the players to have those same expectations. Despite not having the elite talent or preseason hype of great Kentucky teams past, this year’s team still has their eyes set on doing something “people will remember forever”, winning a national championship.

Asked on social media, if hanging banner #9 was all the players thought about “every second”, Ansley Almonor had a response.

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“We do.”

It takes a lot to win a national championship, including some luck, but this team is certainly going to be loved for their desire to live out their dream of playing at Kentucky and their unselfishness. Those two things can take them a long way this season .

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Men's Basketball

Kentucky AD Mitch Barnhart Seemingly Takes Shot at John Calipari, “Anybody Can Recruit”

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6 days ago

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November 16, 2024

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Mitch Barnhart sitting next to basketball coach John Calipari.
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John Calipari and Kentucky Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart had their differences over fifteen years, but success can hide a lot of things. Not that they hated each other, but they each had vastly different personalities. As that success weaned towards the end of Calipari’s tenure, those issues started to be noticed publically.

If you need evidence of that, despite their efforts to dispute it, there is the infamous press conference where Barnhart talked about “entitled” coaches, shortly after Calipari publicly called for a new practice facility. Then, there were multiple times when Calipari expressed that the administration was not on the same page and that he was facing “headwinds”.

That said, Calipari is now at Arkansas, but those differences and some disdain remain. During an interview on the Kentucky Football pregame show, Barnhart seemingly took a shot at Calipari when asked about Mark Pope’s recruiting philosophy and prioritizing fit.

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“I tell people all the time, ‘Anybody can recruit, not everybody can evaluate,’” Barnhart said. “You can recruit. You can be phenomenal at bringing people to your program. But if it does not fit you, it’s really not helpful.”

Of course, Calipari is one of the best, if not the best, recruiters in college basketball history. At times, he prioritized talent and athleticism over fit.

Quite the coincidence.

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ESPN’s Jay Williams Gives Message to Kentucky Fans, “You’re Not Going to Like It…”

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7 days ago

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November 15, 2024

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ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Williams gives a message to Kentucky fans after the Wildcats win over Duke. "You won't like it."
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Back in April, opposing fanbases like Duke, told Kentucky fans to “cope with Pope” following the hire of Mark Pope and the corresponding initial shock. On Tuesday, those same fanbases had to watch as Mark Pope outcoached Jon Scheyer and Duke in the final minutes of the Champion’s Classic to get his first marque win in just his third game at Kentucky.

Of course, shortly after the game, Duke fans began to rationalize the loss by highlighting their team’s youth. While true, it sounded like an echo chamber of what Kentucky fans said for years under John Calipari. One notable example was former Blue Devil Jay Williams.

At halftime, while Duke was leading 46-37, Williams called this year’s Duke team the most talented since the 2001 team that he was a part of at halftime. To his credit, he complimented Kentucky on the comeback victory, specifically on their offense and maturity, but then 36 hours later he posted a message to Kentucky fans on social media.

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“Let me put you on to something,” Williams started. “Whether you like it or not, networks are going to sell Cooper Flagg. He’s going to be the number one pick in the draft. You’re going to talk about whether he won the or whether he lost the game, regardless of the outcome.”

“You’re not going to like it. There should be more kudos to Mark Pope and Kentucky,” Williams continued. “Regardless of whether you won the game or not, they’re still going to sell Cooper Flagg because he is selling the sport. Sorry.”

William’s statement is true. That said, it comes off as ‘sour grapes’ about losing. Cooper Flagg is a great talent and will likely be the first pick in the NBA Draft, but most Kentucky fans would say they would much rather have the win than the marketing.

Futhermore, Kentucky and its ‘brand’ has raised the level of multiple players and coaches, and will continue to do so. A deeper impact than Cooper Flagg will have on Duke in just one season.

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