‘We would have won the national championship.’ See what else John Calipari said.
Sympathy for a team denied by fate from reaching college basketball’s grand stage? Bravado that will forever be immune from the need to back up words with deeds?
Whatever the prompting, John Calipari declared Kentucky the uncrowned national champions of 2020.
“We would have won the national championship,” the UK coach said on his radio show Monday night. “But, you know, fate intervenes sometimes. And it’s something you have to deal with.”
Of course, fate came in the form of the coronavirus pandemic. The NCAA Tournament was canceled.
The victory at Florida had Calipari thinking about a national championship. Even with floor leader Ashton Hagans not making the trip and leading scorer Immanuel Quickley fouling out with 9:04 left, Kentucky overcame an 18-point deficit.
The players that Calipari had long said needed to be contributors — Keion Brooks, Johnny Juzang and Nate Sestina — came up big in Gainesville.
“And we won a game we had no business winning,” Calipari said. “Which tells you we had a full team going into the tournament. I can’t tell you the buzz when we got back.”
For perspective, and like Calipari surely having no fear of ever being contradicted, Kansas Coach Bill Self spoke confidently of the Jayhawks being primed for a championship run.
“We were as prepared as we could have possibly been going into the tournament,” Self said on a teleconference earlier Monday. “Playing our best.”
Calipari said he got another good vibe as the Kentucky players practiced competitively early last week before heading to Nashville for the Southeastern Conference Tournament.
“This team was, like, chomping at the bit,” he said.
Then came the news that the SEC Tournament had been canceled followed later last Thursday by the news that the NCAA Tournament had also been canceled.
“They came back and they played pickup … ,” Calipari said. “Then I heard later they all sat down and they cried because they knew that was it right there. That was the end. And they wanted to enjoy each other one more time.”
NBA or UK
Quickley will probably enter his name in the NBA Draft and go through the pre-draft process, Calipari said.
“In my mind, he’s got to put his name in and thoroughly look at this,” the UK coach said. “Because he just had a wonderful year and deserves an opportunity if that’s out there for him.”
Sestina Part II?
The idea has been floated of the NCAA granting seniors in winter sports another season of eligibility because the coronavirus cut short the 2019-20 season.
Calipari said that such an idea would apply to Sestina, who played this season as a graduate transfer.
“Nate would do it and wants to do it,” Calipari said. “And he’d come back for us.”
But, Calipari added that several unintended consequences from such a rule change would have to be handled. For instance, how would schools pay for extra scholarships if returning seniors could rejoin a team already at the 13-scholarship limit? Or what about incoming freshmen who assumed departing seniors would create more opportunity for playing time?
A favorite team?
Calipari spoke affectionately of the 2019-20 team.
“My hope is they go down as one of the favorite teams” of his 11 seasons as coach, Calipari said. “You’re talking about a team that had a chance in every game we played. Now, I will come back and tell you we had a chance to lose a bunch of them, too.”
UK vs. Iona?
Calipari confirmed that he spoke to former UK Coach Rick Pitino and wished him well as the new coach for Iona.
When asked about Kentucky playing Iona, Calipari said, “I would imagine having Iona come to Rupp would be something that would be considered. And I would expect our fans to be positive, as they always are. They were even positive when we got beat by Evansville.”
Hall in Hall?
Calipari saluted former UK Coach Joe B. Hall as “one of the true good people in our profession.”
While another former UK coach, Eddie Sutton, is on this year’s ballot as a candidate for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Calipari said Hall also should be considered for enshrinement.
“He needs to be on the Hall of Fame ballot,” Calipari said of Hall. “And I’ve got to do some stuff to really put it to the attention of the people in the Hall of Fame. Why isn’t Coach Hall being nominated?
“There are people in the Hall of Fame … with less of a record. Some of them didn’t win a national championship. A couple of them didn’t get to the Final Four.”
Calipari cited Hall’s encouragement as a reason for his success.
“This job would have been 10 times harder if I didn’t have him in my corner,” Calipari said.
This story was originally published March 16, 2020 at 9:10 PM.
