To assign blame for UK’s 9-16 season, John Calipari looks in the mirror
A staff shakeup followed only the second losing record for Kentucky basketball since the 1926-27 season. But UK Coach John Calipari suggested that although B came after A, that did not mean that A caused B.
“If anything went south on us, it’s on me,” Calipari said on a teleconference Friday. “It’s not on any staff member.”
Tony Barbee, who left UK to become head coach at Central Michigan, had wanted to lead a program. “He turned down a job a couple years ago I didn’t think he should turn down,” Calipari said.
Joel Justus, who left to become the No. 1 assistant at Arizona State, wanted “to move up” in the coaching profession, Calipari said.
Kentucky added Orlando Antigua and Ron Coleman, both of whom had been on the staff at Illinois.
Post-COVID
Calipari welcomed a post-COVID period. He implied that Kentucky’s 9-16 record last season could be linked to the pandemic restricting workouts and team bonding tactics last summer.
“I knew summer was important to us,” he said. “I never realized how important. … I always say I don’t have a magic wand, and last year kind of proved it.”
Three incoming freshmen — Daimion Collins, Bryce Hopkins and TyTy Washington — are expected to arrive on campus this weekend, Calipari said.
Team bonding will include trips to other parts of Kentucky to do community work, he said.
“I want these players to realize the impact they have in our state,” he said.
Calipari also welcomed the chance to have the UK players gather at his home again.
“Being at my house once a week,” he said. “Cooking out. Swimming.”
When the players return to campus, “the first thing we’re going to do (is) we’re going to the house, having them stay at my house on weekends,” Calipari said.
Name, image, likeness
Calipari suggested Kentucky is well-positioned to transition to a new reality should the NCAA allow players to profit off their names, images and likenesses.
He said that the television ratings for UK games in the 2018-19 season were better than all but three NBA teams: the Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers and LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers.
Higher TV ratings can boost a player’s marketability, Calipari implied.
Topic of conversation
Calipari spoke of wanting to be prepared should the changing nature of college basketball bring about new duties for staffers such as monitoring a transfer portal bulging with players.
“We just got back from a staff retreat,” the UK coach said, “and part of it was, OK, how do we make sure that we stay on top of this.”
SEC waiver
Calipari spoke optimistically about the Southeastern Conference abolishing its current rule that requires players who transfer from one league team to another to sit out a season. That rule would require Sahvir Wheeler, who transferred from Georgia to UK, to sit out the 2021-22 season.
“The entire country has given these kids the ability to transfer (one time without sitting out),” he said. “… I can’t imagine we’d be able to do anything differently. But I’m not in that room.”
Oldest UK team
The addition of transfers Oscar Tshiebwe, Kellan Grady, Sahvir Wheeler and CJ Fredrick plus the return of veterans Keion Brooks and Jacob Toppin inspired a question about UK’s oldest team of the Calipari era next season.
“I’m hoping we can put more on their plate,” Calipari said. “I’ve always tried to empower my teams. But to empower teams, they’ve got to have great leaders. They’ve got to have kids who have been through it, that want to take it on. When you empower a team, it’s more free-flowing.”
That did not happen last season, he added. “I had to create something for someone somewhere on the court. Well, it’s really hard.”
Shooting
With Grady and Fredrick joining Dontaie Allen comes the expectation that Kentucky will shoot better next season.
While noting the importance of shooting, Calipari added, “Now, I won’t sacrifice just plain shooting for everything else. Like, if you can’t guard and you’re a turnover machine, but you can shoot, it’s hard to play here. I want guys like we have had that can shoot but you can guard, because the bottom line here is we’re trying to win.”
NCAA slow
While change marks this time in college basketball, Calipari lamented how he saw the NCAA as slow to adjust.
“Right now, you’re on an aircraft carrier,” he said. “You need to be on a speedboat for the next three years because we don’t know where any of this stuff is going.”
Mass transit
Calipari said he counted 130 programs that had six or more players enter the transfer portal.
“It may be higher,” he said. “That was two weeks ago.”
