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Men's Basketball

John Calipari Talks Kentucky Basketball and Rap Music In SportsCenter Interview

Published

1 year ago

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Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari appearing on SportsCenter.
SportsCenter

John Calipari made his rare interview appearance on National TV on SportsCenter. He talked all about the team, Final Four hopes, NIL, and more on ESPN.

He mentioned that all of his best teams have a good mix of talent: “My best teams have been young players, talented, but veterans who are also talented and you mix them together. So we have that this year.”

Calipari says the team is really getting along well and are excited. “It should be fun,” he said. What goes into making a Final Four? “The talent where you have a couple guys that can just take over a game, where you have great rim protection,” he told ESPN. “Those have been my Final Four teams.”

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Kentucky has a few things they are working on before the season: “Get stronger, let’s get more consistent, shooting the ball, skill-wise.” He says consistency is a big key for the younger players, but he says this is a good group for that:

“They love being in the gym. I go in my office and I’ll look out and there are four guys in there playing,” he told ESPN. Cal says playing in the GLOBL JAM was important for the players to notice what they needed to work on.

“We shot the ball well,” he said on Kentucky’s performance at GLOBL JAM. “Antonio Reeves really shot the ball well. You have to have that.”

Calipari also opened up about his longtime connection with Drake: “I’ve known Drake a long, long time. Before he became Drake. The greatest thing I can tell you about him is he has really not changed. He is exactly how he was when I first met him,” he told ESPN.

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How did Calipari end up friends with Lil Wayne? “Lil Wayne was doing a concert in town and said, ‘I wanna go meet coach up there’, so he came to my office, and I tell you, I loved hearing his story.”

Calipari also touched on his stance with NIL: “I’m good with this. But, we’ve gotten out of wack with this,” he told ESPN. “Let’s figure out how to take care of these kids, do it the right way. You can’t do it in a way that takes away the Olympic sports.”

The Kentucky head coach sure did have some interesting things to say about his team in the interview with SportsCenter, and it looks like things are looking promising for this season.

Catch the full interview of Coach Calipari on SportsCenter below.

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Men's Basketball

Former Louisville Player “Pissed Off” at Rick Pitino’s Return to Kentucky, Suggests He Is a Liar

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4 days ago

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October 17, 2024

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Former Louisville player Luke Hancock was "pissed off" about his former coach Rick Pitino returning to Kentucky, and suggests he is a liar.
IMAGN

If a Kentucky fan had been told on January 1st that Rick Pitino would return to Rupp Arena for Mark Pope’s first Big Blue Madness as the Wildcats’ head coach, they would have given you quite a look. Yet, it happened, and it even caught Louisville fans off guard.

“I want to come back to Camelot one more time,” Pitino said teary-eyed with a Kentucky blue pullover on. This was quite the opposite act of what he did the last time he was in Rupp Arena, which was flipping off the Wildcat fans as the head coach at Louisville in 2015.

Already angering Louisville fans with his return to their rival, Pitino was asked if he sees himself returning to Louisville in a similar fashion one day, to which he responded, “Probably not”.

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“I love that place, and I love the fans at Louisville, but I’ve never been invited back to Louisville. They fired me quite abruptly and not nicely, but I harbor nothing against the fans and certainly nothing against my players. I love them dearly. But I’ve never been invited back, not one time.”

Former Louisville captain Luke Hancock refutes this, saying he has invited Pitino back himself.

“I’ll tell you what pissed me off,” Hancock said. “The fact that coach went out there and acted like he hadn’t invited back. That’s the line I don’t like. Of course, you’ve been invited back… For him to go out of his way to say that, that’s simply not true.”

It likely is the case that Hancock invited Pitino back to Louisville, but being invited back by a player and an administration is different. Again Pitino left Kentucky on his own will to go to the Boston Celtics, whereas he was fired from Louisville.

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Now that he is back in the good graces of Big Blue Nation, and given the turmoil in his relationship with the UofL administration, it’s difficult to envision Pitino returning to Louisville for a reunion.

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BB Recruiting

Malachi Moreno Helping Kentucky Recruit Top 2025 Point Guard

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5 days ago

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October 16, 2024

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Five-star Kentucky commit Malachi Moreno is helping the Wildcats recruit one of the top point guards of the 2025 class Acaden Lewis.
UK Athletics

This past weekend was a big moment for Kentucky basketball, as the first Big Blue Madness of the Mark Pope era took place. In years past, the event has hosted multiple five-star recruits and this year was no different.

While the guest list was smaller due to USA Basketball junior mini camp, the Wildcats had two top recruits in attendance, 2026 five-star Anthony Thompson and 2024 four-star combo guard Acaden Lewis.

The latter is one of Kentucky’s biggest recruiting priorities in the 2025 class and was also on campus for an official visit as he prepares to make his college decision in early November. To help was five-star commit, Malachi Moreno.

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While Moreno couldn’t make it to Big Blue Madness, he was able to meet with Lewis during his visit on Thursday and even took part in his photo shoot, as the pair posed together in Kentucky uniforms in Rupp Arena.

It helps to have a five-star commit just down the road to help recruit. Could we see the pair play together next season at Kentucky? Things are trending in that direction, but time will tell.

Also published on A Sea of Blue.

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Men's Basketball

Rick Pitino Takes Shot at Louisville Following Return to Kentucky

Published

5 days ago

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October 16, 2024

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Rick Pitino returned to Rupp Arena for Kentucky's Big Blue Madness, and took a shot at his former school Louisville.
© Clare Grant/Courier Journal

Time heals all wounds.

In 2015, Rick Pitino walked out of Rupp Arena with his middle finger up at the fans, as the head coach of the Louisville Cardinals. On Friday, he returned for the first time since, and as he emerged from the tunnel wearing Kentucky blue, holding the 1996 championship trophy, Big Blue Nation cheered for him for the first time in over two decades.

Clearly holding back tears, Pitino sat the trophy down on a mantle alongside seven others, and was welcomed with a warm embrace from his former player and now head coach, Mark Pope.

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“I am so happy to be back,” Pitino opened. “Before I pack it in, in coaching, I want to come back to Camelot one more time. This is one of the best nights I’ve had in a long time.”

On Friday, at an event that had become stale and repetitive of late, was a moment that will be remembered in Kentucky basketball history. To close this historical night, Kentucky Insider asked Pitino if he ever thought he would be wearing Kentucky blue again.

“Yeah, I thought so. Once I left Louisville, I said I’ll sleep in Kentucky blue.”

Pitino is one of Kentucky’s own again. Wow, how time has changed.

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