Kentucky adds brotherly love to basketball staff by hiring Flint
Metaphorically speaking, Kentucky has hired John Calipari’s “brother” to replace Kenny Payne on the men’s basketball coaching staff. UK made it official Monday by announcing the new coach will be James “Bruiser” Flint.
Flint, 55, was an assistant coach on Calipari’s UMass staff for seven seasons beginning in the 1989-90 season. During that time, UMass transformed from a basketball nonentity to a No. 1 ranking in 1995-96 and advancement to that year’s Final Four.
“Bruiser has always been, like, Cal’s little brother,” ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla said of the Calipari-Flint relationship.
In the news release, Calipari said of Flint, “‘Bru’ is not only a terrific coach, he’s like my brother. You’re not going to find anyone that says a bad word about him.”
Flint, who worked the last three years as an assistant coach at Indiana, said of his new job, “I am so excited to get started in Lexington. Kentucky, as Coach Cal likes to say, is the gold standard in college basketball.
“Going back to our time at UMass, Coach Cal has been both a brother and a mentor for 30 years. I have always had great respect for his approach and his care for his players.”
His grandfather gave Flint the nickname of “Bruiser.”
In the book “Going Bigtime,” which chronicles UMass’s rise in the 1990s to basketball prominence, author Marty Dobrow wrote of Flint, “His grandfather, a man with the appealing name Gentle Ben, tried to assuage parental fears about the sickly baby by saying, ‘Don’t worry. When he grows up, he’ll be a bruiser.’”
Flint grew up in Philadelphia, where his father, James Flint Sr., became a renowned figure in youth basketball.
“He was a pied piper in the community by keeping kids on the right track,” Fraschilla said. “The best way to put it is he was a mentor, a legendary mentor.
“So Bruiser was cut from good cloth.”
Flint played basketball for a high school in Philadelphia and then for St. Joseph’s, where he made the All-Atlantic 10 team as a senior. He later was inducted into the school’s athletic Hall of Fame.
Fraschilla described Flint as “a Philly point guard,” which the ESPN analyst defined as “smart, tough, pass-first, run the team, coach on the floor kind of player.
“And that’s how Bruiser played. He was the ultimate Philly guard.”
After two years as an assistant coach at Coppin State, Flint joined the UMass staff in Calipari’s second season as coach.
UMass promoted Flint to head coach two days after Calipari departed for the New Jersey Nets in 1996. Flint was 30.
“Looking dapper and confident, the former financial management major . . . spelled out his goals for his first head coaching job,” Doprow wrote. Flint said, “I want to win the national championship. I don’t want to get as far as John Calipari did. I want to win it.”
Flint compiled a record of 86-72 in five seasons as UMass coach. He became Drexel’s coach in 2001. During his 15 seasons as Drexel coach, he was named the Colonial Athletic Association Coach of the Year four times.
His time as Drexel coach included a historic night in Rupp Arena. On Dec. 21, 2009, Kentucky beat Drexel 88-44. That was the 2,000th victory in UK basketball history.
Fired in 2016, Flint is the winningest coach in Drexel basketball history (245-217).
Calipari saluted Flint’s ability to work with and develop relationships with players.
“He forms great relationships with players because he listens, has a terrific personality and can relate to anyone,” Calipari said in the news release. “Bruiser has an incredible basketball mind and is going to help us in a lot of ways.”
Fraschilla echoed that sentiment.
“Bruiser is a great players’ coach,” the ESPN analyst said. “And he’s got John’s ultimate trust because they go back over 30 years.”
