Kentucky basketball takes road trip amid coronavirus fears. ‘There is concern.’
When asked if there was any concern about travel in the midst of a coronavirus spreading worldwide, John Calipari responded with humor.
“I’ve tried to call off all press meetings because I was thinking I have no idea where your hands have been,” the Kentucky coach told reporters at Friday’s news conference. “I was, like, why would I do anything with the media. You’ll notice how far away I am from you.”
With that, Calipari coughed, and reporters chuckled.
More seriously, Calipari acknowledged the coronavirus has his attention.
“There is concern,” he said.
The UK coach said he had told players to hydrate and wash their hands regularly.
Calipari and Keion Brooks saw the wisdom in the NBA recently advising its players to do fist bumps with fans rather than open-handed high fives.
“You don’t know necessarily what people have got,” said Brooks, who added that he washes his hands and uses hand sanitizer as much as possible.
Calipari said that his precautions extend to morning Mass. Instead of shaking hands in church, he said he might say, “Peace, brother.”
There has been talk of fans not being allowed to attend NCAA Tournament games in an attempt to curtail the spread of coronavirus.
Brooks said it would be “kind of awkward” to play in an empty arena or dome.
“At the end of the day, we’re here to play basketball,” he said. “Not really worried about the crowd.”
Later Friday, the NCAA’s advisory panel for the virus issued a statement saying at the present it is “not recommending cancellation or public spacing of athletic and related events” scheduled in the U.S. The panel urged fans and athletes to take proper precautions to avoid risk.
‘Unacceptable’
A video on social media showed a UK fan directing a racial slur at a Tennessee fan during Tuesday’s game. UK Director of Athletics Mitch Barnhart subsequently announced that the fan would be barred permanently from attending games.
Calipari said he had not seen the video nor talked to the team about the incident.
“I would just tell you that a racial slur is unacceptable in any setting at any time,” the UK coach said.
Brooks echoed that sentiment.
Of someone using a racial slur, he said, “That’s doesn’t reflect my values or what I was raised on. So, that’s something I completely disagree with.
“I feel like the situation was handled correctly. Just move on from there.”
When asked if a fan’s racial slur could be a problem for marketing the UK program, Calipari said, “If it came from the program, yes, it would be. But, no, it’s not.”
Hours after Friday’s press conference, Calipari posted a statement on Twitter expanding on his thoughts.
“We have the classiest fans in the country,” the UK coach said. “What happened earlier this week in no way represents our fan base. What was said was absolutely unacceptable and should not be tolerated, but one person’s actions does not reflect the BBN.
“You’re talking about a fan base that gives standing ovations for opposing players when they have a big game. It’s unfortunate that this happened but I hope that we can use this as an opportunity to come together and put an end to this type of offensive behavior.”
‘Great mood’
Although UK lost to Tennessee despite leading by 17 early in the second half, Calipari was in “a great mood” at the next practice, Brooks said. “He said we played really good in the first half. He was proud of what we did. He just said in the second half, we didn’t play with the same fire and energy. We kind of let up a little bit.”
Backcourt trios
Of course, a trio of guards — Ashton Hagans, Immanuel Quickley and Tyrese Maxey — lead Kentucky.
Florida has its own trio of guards in Andrew Nembhard, Noah Locke and Scottie Lewis. In the first game, UK limited the three to 2-for-14 shooting (0-for-7 from three-point range) and six points.
Locke missed all five of his three-point shots, which snapped a string of 24 straight games in which he made at least one shot from beyond the arc.
Locke has made seven of 14 three-point shots since the first Kentucky game and still leads the SEC in three-point shooting accuracy at 49 percent. That’s the second-best three-point shooting accuracy in SEC games since 1995-96. Florida’s Lee Humphrey made 51.1 percent of his threes in the national championship season of 2006-07.
Cal a contender
Calipari was among 10 coaches named as semifinalists for the Naismith Men’s Coach of the Year Award, which is given by the Atlanta Tipoff Club.
Calipari would make history by winning the award for a fourth time. He won it in 1996 at Massachusetts, 2008 at Memphis and 2015 at Kentucky.
A second win for Calipari at Kentucky would mark the school’s third win overall. Tubby Smith won it in 2003.
Other semifinalists include former UK player Mark Pope (BYU), former UK assistant coach Leonard Hamilton (Florida State), Bruce Pearl (Auburn), Patrick Chambers (Penn State), Scott Drew (Baylor), Brian Dutcher (San Diego State), Anthony Grant (Dayton), Greg McDermott (Creighton) and Mark Few (Gonzaga).
Four finalists will be named March 18. Fans can vote at naismithtrophy.com/vote between March 20 and April 1.
The winner will be named April 5.
Bracketology
By beating Kentucky, Florida can clinch the No. 2 seed in next week’s SEC Tournament.
UK and Florida have the top two NET ratings among SEC teams at Nos. 21 and 28, respectively.
UK and Florida would be the only SEC programs to play in a fourth straight NCAA Tournament this year.
Etc.
Ian Eagle and Jim Spanarkel will call the game for CBS.
This story was originally published March 6, 2020 at 3:29 PM.
