By Keith Taylor
Special to NKyTribune
Long before he took over as men’s basketball coach at the University of Kentucky, John Calipari had made his mark as one of the top coaches in college basketball.
He took Massachusetts to the Final Four in 1996 and enjoyed similar success at Memphis in between a short stint with the New Jersey Nets. Despite the name recognition and recruiting ability, Calipari had yet to prove he could lead an elite program like Kentucky.
Not only was Calipari facing personal pressure, he was responsible for rebuilding a program that had fallen under tough times following under Billy Gillispie, who failed to understand the stature of the program, resulting in his firing following a two-year tenure.
For the first time in his head coaching career, Calipari’s name was associated with a tradition-rich program yearning for a return to the college basketball pinnacle.
From the beginning, Calipari embraced the program’s tradition and used his recruiting skills to put the Wildcats back into the forefront of college basketball.
Kentucky’s investment in Calipari has paid off in the form of a national championship in 2012 and three Final Four appearances in the past four years.
Calipari also has earned rewards in the form of contract extensions, numerous monetary bonuses and personal accolades.
This weekend, Calipari will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2015. On Friday in Springfield, Mass., Calipari joins late Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp and former UK and current University of Louisville coach Rick Pitino in the prestigious Hall. Calipari’s presenters will be Larry Brown, Julius Erving and Pat Riley, all of whom are enshrined in the Hall of Fame. His current team also will be part of the traveling party as well as others from Memphis, UMass and Kentucky.
“It’s surreal based on the fact that I’ve been there when different people were inducted,” he said. “(I) was in (awe) of the whole setup and then all of the sudden you turn around and it’s happening to me.”
Although a successful and proven coach previously before arriving at Kentucky, Calipari credited those he’s been associated with throughout his coaching career as playing a big role in his achievements.
“It’s all based on everybody else,” he said. ‘It’s based on the kind of staff you had. How about this? It’s based on the kind of jobs you had. You have guys that have been at the greatest jobs in history their whole career. You have other guys that have been at mid-major jobs toiling — some started at Division II. I mean, so the job you had matters, which depends on other people offering you those jobs. And then the players that you coached.”
Calipari is ready for his big night, but still working on trimming down his speech and share the limelight with others including former Kentucky star Louie Dampier, who also will be enshrined this weekend.
“I’ve worked on a speech more than I’ve ever worked on any speech ever,” he admitted. “Not for the sake of the speech (but) for time.”
In his short time at Kentucky, Calipari has made an lasting impact and is deserving of his latest honor.
Keith Taylor is a columnist and senior sports reporter for KyForward.com