Men's Basketball

Recapping John Calipari’s Interview With Paul Finebaum

Published

3 years ago

June 1, 2022

Tristan Pharis

UK Athletics

On Tuesday, John Calipari made gave his latest interview. This with Paul Finebaum during SEC meetings in Destin.

Let’s see what all he had to say.

What is the state of your program?

“We were the fifth-seeded team in that tournament and lost. I’m still sick over it. Jacob is coming back, Oscar is coming. I mean we got a team. (goes on to list the remainder of the roster)…

We got a terrific group. It’s Kentucky, we play for the national championship. My thing always is, you want to be in the hunt. We were in the hunt last year. Two years ago, when we win our league by three games, they shut down the tournament. That team could’ve won the whole thing. You want to be in the hunt, and I am looking at this team, and we have a chance. We really do.”

How do you deal with it (the loss to St. Peters)?

“There’s some grieving. I have never had a team lose to a seed like that, but they weren’t a 15 seed, Saint Peters was really good. We had never done that, so I had to deal with that. Like okay, ‘where do you go?’ You look back, ‘what could we have done?’

We weren’t great the last five games. Guys didn’t come back the way I thought they would. If we lose, who is taking responsibility? I will. If we win, I push those kids to the front and move to the back a little bit. I’m going to figure out a way to put this on me because I don’t want it on the kids. I’d rather it be on me, I am the adult in the room.

These young people gave everything they could to the university. We were like 3rd in the country (in the NET), 2nd on offense, and all that stuff. That team was exciting. I loved coaching last year’s team, had a ball. You know what? That last game, really the last couple of games, we just weren’t what we were two or three weeks earlier. I thought the injuries would help us, get more guys and we’d bounce back. I don’t think TyTy ever got healthy. Played Kellan too many minutes.

You know what? At the end of the day, you can’t steal the joy of that season. The last game, you got to go through it, you got to deal with it. Then I got to lead by showing our guys ‘okay now next, here we go’. They’re coming on campus the next couple of days. We’re getting ready for this coming year to go do what we do.”

What has kept you at Kentucky?

“I think I got the best job in basketball, and I believe that. Yeah, I’ve had some opportunities to look or leave, and you know what? At the end of the day, you look at this situation, we have the chance to win it every year.

Mitch and I are meeting because it’s unacceptable if we’re not the gold standard in facilities and everything else. It’s not acceptable if midnight madness isn’t something talked about for a month. We need the campout going again.

Here’s what I say. See basketball is different than football. In football, you need the calvary. In basketball one guy can make a difference in winning the whole thing or getting to the Final Four, one guy. To have everything the gold standard, we’ve always been that. We slipped a little bit in some of the facilities. Now I’m not saying our facilities are bad, they’re not bad, they’re just not the gold standard.

Mitch and I are going to sit down and talk ‘okay, what’s the path?’. How do we get that going to where anybody that walks on our campus and sees any facilities, knows, ‘Wow, look at this’? We’re going to get there. Like I said, he and I are going to sit down and talk about it, but again what we do, the big picture, is getting kids to that next level by developing young people.”

How have you adapted to change and continue to relate to these players?

“What’s next and how can we be first at it? What’s out there? What are we allowed to do? (referring to NIL) If you truly care about the kids and are authentic about it, you’ll always be able to go on because they’ll know you’re about them. Jacob ran his course, did his thing, and is coming back. He will be unbelievable. He will be a first-round pick.

You have Shaedon Sharpe right now going through this process. A great kid, who I love, who came to us in the middle of last season, and had every intention of ‘I’m sitting out, and I’m playing next year, and I am going to lead us and we’re going to go do something crazy’. Well, circumstances change. Now for me, I want to coach the kid. I want him back at Kentucky, but if he is a top-10 pick, and he’s your son. I mean it’s a hard one… I just don’t want our kids to be mad at him for doing something he probably has to do (if he’s a top-10 pick).”

How do you deal with all the noise?

“Social media has amped the stuff up and sometimes it’s a ‘follow the leader type of deal’. At the end of the day, being at Kentucky, you have the greatest fans. The other side of it is they’re activated and they’re into it. They’re watching everything and losing is life and death. When you’re winning, there is nothing more euphoric.

I can remember us driving from the airport after winning the national title, and people from the nursing home are in wheelchairs and on the street waving. I’m like, ‘are you serious?’. I got emotional because this is what it means to all the people in our state.

I’ve done this for a long time. The bullets are shot through bazooka holes. The greatest job, the greatest opportunity, we got to make everything the gold standard, which is what it’s been. You know what? Let’s go on and do some crazy stuff, which we have a chance to do.”

You can listen to the interview in its entirety here starting at the 12:50 mark.

Men's Basketball

“Real” Kentucky Fans Called Out By ESPN Analyst

Published

3 days ago

January 20, 2025

Tristan Pharis

ESPN

“You should get lost in your team and the journey.”

That is the message that Seth Greenberg had to Kentucky fans on Saturday, suggesting that they are more worried about John Calipari and the Arkansas Razorbacks than they are about their own team.

My take on @KentuckyMBB I have a ton of respect for Coach Pope and a the job he is doing. I appreciate the passion and ownership of the REAL @KentuckyMBB fans. You should get lost in your team and the journey. pic.twitter.com/jryAQADvDL— Seth Greenberg (@SethOnHoops) January 19, 2025

This isn’t the first time that Greenberg, a close friend of Calipari, has criticized Kentucky fans since Calipari’s departure. When the move was first announced last spring, he called the support system “suffocating.” To be fair, that was probably true due to the lack of postseason success.

“It is suffocating when you have your support system isn’t on the same page,” Greenberg said. “Coaching’s hard enough, but when your support system is pulling in another direction that becomes a problem.”

Kentucky fans are more than focused on their team, which in Mark Pope’s first season is ranked in the top 10 with five top 15 wins. That said, to ask them to completely ignore the Coach who had led them for the previous fifteen seasons, both good and bad, is not realistic.

Comparing what you have, to what you had is a natural human trait. With time, that desire to compare will dissipate and Calipari will be welcomed back into the good graces of Kentucky fans.

Men's Basketball

Kentucky Drops Close Game to Alabama, Lacks Execution Down the Stretch

Published

4 days ago

January 19, 2025

Nash Salisbury

Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope reacts to the action during the second half against the Alabama Crimson Tide at Rupp Arena.

Jordan Prather | IMAGN

Kentucky came into this game looking to pick up another Top 25 win, however, Alabama had a different idea.

The Alabama duo of Mark Sears and Grant Nelson just proved to be too much for the Wildcats to handle. Alabama’s duo led them to a 102-97 victory and handed Kentucky the first loss in Rupp Arena of the Mark Pope era.

Mark Sears finished the game with 24 points and 9 assists while Grant Nelson finished with 25 points and 12 rebounds of his own.

Grant Nelson came out scorching hot having 12 points in the first 10 minutes and it just didn’t seem like Kentucky had much of an answer early. Nelson managed to put up 19 points in the first half alone.

The second half was all Mark Sears. Sears started the game slow, but exploded in the 2nd half. He kept knocking down big shot after big shot right when it seemed like Kentucky was going to take over the lead.

Otega Oweh Monster Game

On the Kentucky side, they were led in scoring by Junior Otega Oweh. Oweh finished with 21 points all while shooting an impressive 8-14 from the field.

Lamont Butler also finished with a huge game all while playing through a left shoulder injury. Butler ended the game with 17 points 8 assists and 4 rebounds while also coming up with some huge defensive plays to keep Kentucky in the game.

Even with these respective performances from Otega Oweh and Lamont Butler, Kentucky just couldn’t take the lead and hold onto it. Alabama seemed to hit clutch shot after clutch shot and done just enough to stay ahead of the Cats and pick up a huge road win.

Kentucky ‘Bye Week’

Kentucky will not return to action until next Saturday, January, 25th when they look to rebound on the road vs Vanderbilt. This bye week is coming at the perfect time for Kentucky. They have had some tough injury luck this season as we have seen Lamont Butler, Andrew Carr, and Brandon Garrison all either play through injuries or miss games so far this season.

Pope said this bye week will be a huge one as the team looks to get healthy and stay healthy, for the remainder of their SEC schedule.

Men's Basketball

Five-Star Forward Caleb Wilson: A Kentucky Lock or UNC Steal?

The chase for star forward Caleb Wilson appears to be coming down to the wire between Kentucky and North Carolina.

Published

6 days ago

January 17, 2025

Lane Mills

Top basketball recruit Caleb Wilson on his visit to Kentucky.

UK Athletics

While many of the Big Blue Nation are enthralled with the change in pace and perspective that this year’s veteran-heavy team have provided, most can’t help but excitedly look on to what Mark Pope is building for next season, too.

Despite having only secured three recruits thus far, Kentucky already has a top five freshman class for the 2025-26′ season, according to 247Sports. And Coach Pope and company aren’t done yet.

The long-rumored cherry on top, if you will, for the upcoming class has been five-star power forward Caleb Wilson, out of Holy Innocents Episcopal School in Atlanta, GA.

Wilson, who is widely recognized to be down to Kentucky and North Carolina at this point in his recruitment, has long been tied to Mark Pope’s new regime since he began assembling it last year.

Big Blue Dominos

First came four-star, 6’10 center Malachi Moreno, a hometown recruit and a local favorite. Then came five-star, “I’m KY ’til I die” guard Jasper Johnson, who’s commitment to Kentucky felt like a comeback win for Pope after Alabama had been heavily favored to land him for much of the recruitment race.

The latest and last of which was Acaden Lewis; a four-star guard set to run with Johnson in the backcourt, who cited Coach Pope’s authenticity as a primary reason for his decision.

In the new age of UK basketball in which the one-and-done philosophy of old is far less prevalent, Wilson is seen as the potential final piece of Mark Pope’s puzzle for next season. He’d fit perfectly as a physical presence in the paint next to Moreno, possessing breakout athletic ability and a clear knowledge of the game.

Four highly-touted recruits, on top of multiple expected/possible returners and transfer portal options, would strike a balance between weathered experience and raw talent unlike anything Kentucky has seen in years.

So what’s the deal with Wilson, then? Well, the good news is a commitment is generally anticipated within the month.

The not-so-good news, though not exactly bad either, is that his outlook is muddier than ever.

“Ask Again Later”

While there are no official predictions via the 247Sports Crystal Ball, multiple insiders are touting differing opinions. Anecdotes scattered throughout the last few months from various sources all seemed to point to Kentucky. That is, until Travis Branham, of 247Sports, said that he believes UNC has taken the lead just earlier this week.

Yet Joe Tipton, almost in unison with Branham, declared the opposite, “Everything I’ve heard suggests UK is in the driver’s seat,” he said on “Here Comes the Boom.”

Both Tipton and Branham are reputable reporters with evidenced pasts, and they aren’t alone on either end of this split. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire, and in this case, it seems to be coming from both sides.

As it usually goes with these kinds of things, all the Kentucky faithful can really do is hurry up and wait. Either way, what Mark Pope is done in less than one year at Kentucky is mightily impressive, and even being in the conversation for Wilson at this stage is encouraging.

Let’s just hope he goes for the darker blue cap on commitment day.