John Calipari said this week he might coach basketball until he's 73 years old.
Can you imagine?
No telling what new technological wonder the Kentucky basketball coach will have latched onto by that time or what neutral-site game — first on the moon, perhaps? — Calipari will have scheduled for what will undoubtedly be his 23rd consecutive No. 1-ranked recruiting class.
Speaking with Andy Katz and his buddy Seth Greenberg on the ESPNU college basketball podcast this week, the Hall of Famer did what he is the best at doing — creating headlines.
Here's the one that has received the most attention:
"This could be our best class ever," Calipari said on the podcast. "And that's a pretty scary statement coming from who we've been able to recruit over the last 25 years."
It should be noted Kentucky currently has one commitment for 2016 — that being Tai Wynyard, 6-foot-9 power forward from New Zealand.
It should also be noted the class of 2016 is considered to be one of the deepest and most talented in recent memory. Calipari has been hitting the bricks hard and no doubt he will corral more than his share of blue-chippers.
Duke has already scooped up Rivals' No. 3-rated prospect, Jayson Tatum, who also happens to be close friends with everyone's No. 1-rated prospect, Harry Giles.
But then in a "manifesto" the coach posted on his website this month, Calipari wrote, "I'm so excited about our team this year. We could have the best backcourt and maybe the best frontcourt in the country."
Thing is, Cal might be correct, especially about a backcourt that now includes Jamal Murray. All Murray did was average 16 points in Canada's silver-medal run in the Pan American Games.
Murray wants to play for the Canadian National Team in Olympic qualifying games. Calipari wants that to happen, if it can be worked out academically.
"We'll see if there's any way he can do both, because that's what I want," Calipari told the Sporting News' Mike DeCourcy.
As for the frontcourt, where more normal coaches would refrain from comparing this year's incoming big man, Skal Labissiere, to last year's star big man, Karl-Anthony Towns, Calipari again veered from the norm.
On the podcast, Cal said that Towns, the No. 1 overall pick in last month's NBA Draft, was not considered a possibility for that milestone until late in the season.
"I see Skal on the same path," Calipari said. "At the end of the year, you're going to say, this kid is ridiculous."
This returns us to our original topic. Is the idea of Calipari coaching at age 73 ridiculous? After all, when he arrived at UK, Cal cautioned that he would not coach as long as some people might expect him to coach. And since arriving, he has admitted that the constant turnover of one-and-done talent has been taxing, even on a man who seems to have a bottomless reservoir of energy.
"Seems like everybody else coaches to 70," said Calipari, who is 56 after six seasons at UK. "I was thinking 60. I think I'm going to coach to 72. Maybe 73. No, I don't know."
Syracuse's Jim Boeheim turned 70 last November. Former Arizona coach Lute Olson landed three teams in the NCAA Tournament after he turned 70. Duke's Mike Krzyzewski is 68.
Rick Pitino is 62, but the Louisville coach signed a contract extension back in the spring that would take him through the 2025-26 season. He would be 73 years old. Now we might be on to something.
Or there's this: When Connecticut beat Butler in the 2011 NCAA Tournament, then 68-year-old Jim Calhoun became the oldest coach to win the national title. Maybe Cal's ultimate goal is to win a title at 70 just to take the distinction away from his old frenemy.
After all, if Calipari is still coaching at 73, there's only one question UK fans will want answered.
How many national championships will he have won?
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