The one thing that has gone right for John Calipari this March
Fast-break points from the return of the Madness:
21. The John Calipari coaching tree. According to the Website coachingdatabase.com, the Kentucky head man has seen 11 former aides become NCAA Division I head coaches — and nine of them have been fired at least once.
20. The tree at last yields some good vibes for Calipari. After a dispiriting 9-16 UK season, Calipari is not a part of March Madness in 2021 — but two coaches who have worked for him are leading teams into the NCAA Tournament.
19. Josh Pastner. An assistant to Calipari at Memphis in 2008-09, Pastner coached Georgia Tech (17-8) to a surprise ACC Tournament championship. It was a signature moment for Pastner, widely thought to be on the coaching hot seat when 2020-21 began.
18. Preston Spradlin. A graduate assistant (2009-2011) and assistant director of operations (2011-2014) to Calipari at Kentucky, Spradlin has coached Morehead State (23-7) to MSU’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2011.
17. Morehead State vs. West Virginia. If you are looking for a historical reason to pick the No. 14 seed Eagles to upset Bob Huggins’ No. 3-seed Mountaineers (18-9), try this: MSU has won its first game on its past two trips to the NCAA tourney.
16. 2009. Returning to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1984, Morehead State beat Alabama State 58-43 in a play-in game. A promising MSU big man, sophomore Kenneth Faried, went for 14 points and 21 rebounds.
15. 2011. In the greatest sports moment in Morehead State history, senior guard Demonte Harper swished a three-pointer with 4.2 seconds left to give the No. 13 seed Eagles a 62-61 upset of No. 4 seed Louisville.
14. A Kentuckian in the WVU backcourt. Former Cooper High School star Sean McNeil is a double-figure scorer (11.8 points) for West Virginia and leads the Mountaineers with 61 made-three-pointers.
13. An upset needed. According to BetOnline, Morehead State opened as a 12.5-point underdog vs. West Virginia. If the Eagles do not prevail, 2021 will be the first NCAA Tournament in which a team from Kentucky did not win at least one game since 1991.
12. Western Kentucky’s brutal defeat. For myriad reasons, the Hilltoppers’ 61-57 overtime loss to North Texas late Saturday night in the Conference USA Tournament championship game was one of the most crushing defeats I’ve ever seen.
11. The star-crossed history. WKU has now lost in the past three C-USA tourney finals.
10. 2018. Down 67-55 to Marshall with 3:40 left, Western scored 11 straight points to pull within 67-66 with 37 seconds left. The Hilltoppers had multiple shots to take the lead. None went in.
9. 2019. WKU led Old Dominion by three with 11:03 left in the game. Monarchs guard Xavier Green then scored 14 points in the final 10:40 to lead a 62-56 ODU win.
8. 2021. The Hilltoppers went up 48-41 on North Texas with 2:57 left in regulation on three Josh Anderson free throws. From that point, WKU missed a jump shot, missed the front end of the bonus — and turned the ball over three times. After tying the game with 23 seconds left, North Texas won it in overtime.
7. A long drought. Western has not played in the NCAA Tournament since 2013 (a round-of-64 loss to Kansas). Excluding Division I newcomer Bellarmine, WKU has now gone longer without playing in the Big Dance than any other in-state school.
6. Most recent NCAA appearance by state schools. Morehead State (2021), Kentucky (2019), Louisville (2019), Murray State (2019), Northern Kentucky (2019), Eastern Kentucky (2014).
5.Taveion Hollingsworth. While scoring six points for Western vs. North Texas, the ex-Paul Laurence Dunbar star passed Brett McNeal to become the No. 5 all-time leading scorer (1,862 points) in WKU history.
4. Kentucky-Louisville. The UK-U of L hoops rivalry figures to get extra fire from the fact that the Cardinals did not get an NCAA tourney bid they were expecting in a year when the tournament selection committee was chaired by the Kentucky athletics director (true even if Mitch Barnhart isn’t the reason Louisville was passed over).
3. Thin résumé. I wish the Cardinals had gotten in (and, theoretically, they still could if an at-large team has to withdraw for COVID-19 reasons by 6 p.m. Tuesday). However, U of L did not have an impressive body of work — 1-6 in Quadrant One games; losses of 37 (at Wisconsin) and 45 (at North Carolina) points; and a 56th rating in the final NET Rankings.
2. No Cats, no Cards. The last time both Kentucky and Louisville were not in an NCAA Tournament was 1991, when the Cats were on probation and the Cards went 14-16.
1. All-time wins. Kentucky’s lead over Kansas in the men’s college hoops victories race is down to five: 2,327 to 2,322. To pass UK this season, Bill Self’s Jayhawks will have to win the NCAA title.
This story was originally published March 15, 2021 at 10:32 AM.
