By Keith Taylor
Special to NKyTribune
John Calipari has no secret ingredient when it comes to recruiting. The Kentucky coach simply likes to think outside the box.
“I think probably throughout my whole career, I’ve been disruptive,” he said. “Like, every once in a while, I speak my mind and walk into different leagues, jobs, have to build and have to disrupt. With this (one-and-done culture) it’s disrupting. It’s not the norm. It’s not what it’s supposed to be.”
When it comes down to it — from signing to play at Kentucky all the way to the NCAA Tournament — the Kentucky coach said everything is “about the kids.”
“If you care about (the) kids and you really care, it’s more about them than anything else,” Calipari said. “If they’d chose not to play, we don’t have a tournament. (The NCAA) tournament is about them. It’s not about me as a coach. It’s not about the media. It’s not about the fans. It’s about (the) kids.”
Calipari isn’t the only coach trying to land the best talent on the recruiting trail. North Carolina coach Roy Williams recruited Bam Adebayo and thought the Kentucky forward was “just great.” The Hall of Fame coach also looked at Malik Monk and De’Aaron Fox during the recruiting process. He also went after Jayson Tatum, who eventually signed with Duke. All four players likely will declare for the NBA Draft in the near future.
“The only difference is they got them and we didn’t,” Williams said of Monk, Fox, Adebayo and Tatum. “We’ve got to try to figure out a way too compete with (Kentucky and Duke) and go from there.”
Williams said there’s no “perfect rule” regarding one-and-done players, but likes the fact that heralded prep stars can’t make the jump from high school straight to the NBA.
“I think its better for the majority of the kids to go to college for a year,” he said. “They’re more mature. The NBA can make better decisions. It’s better for the kids, but it’s also better for the NBA.”
Williams prefers to have a mixture of veterans and newcomers in his program and the Tar Heels have found success using that formula. North Carolina, which will play Oregon in the Final Four this weekend in Phoenix, will make its second straight appearance on the final weekend of the college basketball season. The Tar Heels finished runner-up to national champion Villanova in last year’s championship game.
“I like to coach kids and I like some stability in the program,” Williams said. “That’s the reason I always say I’d like to have a mix.”
Williams praised Calipari for being able to piece together a new team on a yearly basis. During his eight seasons with the Wildcats, Calipari has guided Kentucky to 30 or more wins in four seasons, including a 32-6 mark this past year.
“What John does is just phenomenal to me,” Williams said. “To have to change four, five, six, seven guys a year is just phenomenal. What he does is really special there and I’m not trying to suck up or anything, I really believe that. For me that would be harder, because I like that relationship and watching guys grow and do some of those things, but I’d like to have a mix of (players) is what I’d really like to have.”
Keith Taylor is a senior sports writer for KyForward, where he primarily covers University of Kentucky sports. Reach him at keith.taylor@kyforward.com or @keithtaylor21 on Twitter