John Calipari’s women’s clinic draws record crowd

For an afternoon, John Calipari traded in his blue and white for hot pink — from his Kentucky polo to even his dual-toned Nikes.

His wife Ellen, who introduced herself to the rest of the John Calipari Women’s Clinic attendees as “Mrs. Cal,” coordinated with the coach.

Hundreds of women lined up to get an autograph and a photo with the Kentucky basketball power couple before enjoying the rest of the clinic. The flood of females flowed from station to station, through the locker room and around Rupp Arena.

“There’s over 1,000 of you here. There’s never been a bigger women’s clinic in the world,” Calipari said to the crowd. “We only thought five or six hundred (would show up). No, I should’ve known you’re crazy.”

A few crowd favorites stood out among the record-setting mass of women. Assistant coach Kenny Payne walked around and took pictures. Former Wildcat Alex Poythress signed autographs and posed for selfies.

Even the Caliparis’ dogs made their appearance at the autograph booth.

During the three hours allotted for the clinic, the attendees were able to participate in drills, watch the basketball team run through an abbreviated practice and check out Kentucky’s recruiting video (the only part of the clinic that was top-secret and not allowed to be filmed or photographed).

Sitting center-court and front row for the whole clinic were four women debuting their 2016 hand-painted “Cal’s Gals” shirts. The group has been to seven of these clinics.

“I’m so excited. We come here every year but, of course, it’s grown and grown and grown,” Pat Phipps, one of “Cal’s Gals” said. “The very best part is when we get to see the boys.”

The rest of the crowd agreed with huge applause during player introductions.

As promised, at the end of the clinic, Calipari took off his pink shoes — right there in the middle of the court — and gave them to a woman in the crowd.

And one of Cal’s Gals got the pink shirt off his back.

“You’re going to have to wait and pick that up with your basketball,” Calipari joked.

This story was originally published October 23, 2016 at 5:30 PM with the headline "John Calipari’s women’s clinic draws record crowd."