‘We do have newspapers everywhere.’ New UK women’s coach eager to pick John Calipari’s brain.
Kentucky athletics director Mitch Barnhart declined to answer a question about the state of his men’s basketball program shortly after introducing new women’s basketball coach Kenny Brooks on Thursday.
But a week of chatter about John Calipari’s job status still earned mention during the event.
“We do have newspapers everywhere,” Brooks said when asked about his brief meeting with Calipari before his introductory news conference. “I know there’s been a lot going on with Coach Cal and his situation, but he’s one of the best, one of the best in the country, and I’m looking forward to picking his brain.
“Anything and everything about Kentucky basketball. Because when we talk Kentucky basketball, it’s an umbrella that you want to be under. It’s a brand, and I’m looking forward to capitalizing on it.”
Brooks and Calipari met in the lobby of the Joe Craft Practice Facility where both the men’s and women’s basketball teams practice. Calipari tweeted a picture of that meeting with a message wishing Brooks well.
“I’m really excited for Kenny Brooks!” Calipari tweeted. “We just met. He knows I’m here for him to help in any way. He has a great background and worked for friends of mine. He’s prepared for this moment.”
With Brooks hired to replace former UK coach Kyra Elzy, both of Kentucky’s basketball coaches now have a Final Four on their resume.
Calipari has led three different teams to the Final Four. He reached four Final Fours in his first six seasons at UK and won the 2012 national championship.
Brooks led the Virginia Tech women’s basketball team to the program’s first Final Four last season. He followed that historic season with an ACC regular season championship this spring.
Because of that resume, Barnhart was skeptical Brooks would be interested in the Kentucky job when associate athletics director Rachel Baker first mentioned him as a candidate. When Barnhart realized Brooks’ interest was real, he quickly shot to the top of Kentucky’s wish list.
“He wanted to be here because of Kentucky,” Barnhart said. “There is nothing that escapes people about the brand of Kentucky basketball. When he said we’re under the umbrella, that’s a good place to live. The Southeastern Conference, again, those two brands together are pretty special.”
Calipari dubbed UK’s men’s program the “gold standard” of college basketball shortly after arriving in Lexington. Those high expectations played a large part in calls to fire Calipari in the wake of an NCAA Tournament loss to No. 14 seed Oakland last week.
The UK men’s team has won just one NCAA Tournament game in the last four seasons and has not reached the Final Four since 2015.
Expectations will be lower for Brooks as he looks to rebuild a program that won 12 games in each of the last two seasons, but he did not shy away from talk about shooting for national championships during his introductory news conference.
And if calling on Calipari for advice helps Brooks work toward that goal, it is a strategy he sounded eager to employ.
Brooks played for Hall of Famer Lefty Driesell at James Madison then spent the first nine seasons of his coaching career as a men’s assistant. He already knows multiple members of Calipari’s staff, including assistant Bruiser Flint who was head coach at Drexel at the same time Brooks was a men’s assistant at CAA rival James Madison.
“Any sport that we are successful in here at Kentucky, you want to piggyback off of that,” Brooks said. “Because, just great exposure. I’m looking forward to that. Coach Cal, it was a brief discussion, introduction, and I’m looking forward to picking his brain more.”
This story was originally published March 28, 2024 at 9:21 PM.