Calipari’s inner Trump surfaces in light-hearted appearance at Lexington Rotary

During an appearance at the Lexington Rotary Club on Thursday, Kentucky Coach John Calipari outlined the recruiting pitch he tosses at prospects, previewed the status of the team going into Friday’s Blue-White Game and joked about coaching his son.

As an unexpected bonus, Calipari also did an impression of Donald Trump in debate mode. As a Rotarian asked about UK’s recruiting, Calipari blurted out, “No!” Then he added, “False!” and “Not true.”

As laughter filled the Fasig-Tipton pavilion, Calipari assured the audience of about 300 that he did not intend to delve deeply into presidential politics. Then he shimmied his shoulders in what appeared to be an attempt at physical comedy.

Calipari said he expected a crowd of 15,000 or more to attend UK’s Blue-White Game in Rupp Arena. He cautioned the audience not to expect too much too soon.

“So many things we don’t have in,” he said. “We’re young and it takes time.”

As he’s said earlier this preseason, Calipari spoke of expecting Kentucky to display good defense in the 2016-17 season. He also said that freshman Malik Monk will probably take the most shots.

Monk has to “respect that,” Calipari said. “Don’t ever take a bad shot.”

With the fall signing period less than three weeks away, Calipari spoke confidently of UK’s chances of adding quality players.

“I think we’re in good shape,” he said. “Will we sign every kid? No. We never do.”

To begin the 30-minute appearance, Calipari reviewed how much Kentucky can offer a prospect: Winning, preparation for playing with other great players, academic success (14 players graduated in his seven years at UK), invitations to do charitable work, NBA careers (a poll of general managers named Karl-Anthony Towns as the player they’d want to build a team around).

As he frequently does, Calipari also mentioned that the sacrifice in minutes, shots and points that UK players make does not hinder them in the NBA.

“The greatest thing about Kentucky (is) you can do it all,” Calipari said. “You can win. Kids can benefit.”

Coaches rank UK No. 4

UK will open the season as the No. 4-ranked team in the nation in the USA Today coaches poll released Thursday.

Duke will tip things off at No. 1, having collected 27 of the poll’s 32 first-place votes. Kentucky, with two first-place votes, was the only other team with more than one.

No. 2 Kansas, No. 3 Villanova and No. 5 Oregon received the remaining three first-place votes. Villanova is the defending national champion.

Kentucky will play against five schools ranked in the Top 25 this season: No. 2 Kansas (Jan. 28), No. 6 North Carolina (Dec. 17), No. 9 Michigan State (Nov. 15), No. 14 Louisville (Dec. 21) and No. 20 UCLA (Dec. 3).

UK was the only member of the Southeastern Conference voted into the preseason Top 25 by the coaches. Texas A&M, Florida, Georgia and Arkansas were among schools also receiving votes.

The Atlantic Coast Conference and the Big Ten led the way with five Top 25 selections each.

This story was originally published October 20, 2016 at 1:58 PM with the headline "Calipari’s inner Trump surfaces in light-hearted appearance at Lexington Rotary."