As we go deeper and deeper into the NCAA tournament every year, we are constantly reminded of what an honest man Kentucky has in coach John Calipari.
When Calipari took his turn on Monday’s teleconference with the Final Four coaches, it sounded a bit like George Washington telling the tale of the cheery tree. “I cannot tell a lie, I did it with my little hatchet,” young GW said.
Notre Dame fans took exception this weekend when Calipari said Kentucky’s win over the Irish didn’t come against the best team the Wildcats faced this season – even thought the Irish came close to ending the perfect season and blocking Kentucky from the Final Four.
“I speak the truth,” Calipari said. “I’m not going to sit there and lie.”
Around Connecticut, we understand Calipari’s version of honesty. There was the night in the Hartford Courant sports department when staffers, myself included, gathered around the TV and listened to Calipari discredit our report on Marcus Camby, UMass and agents. After an entire day of refusing to speak to the Courant, Calipari went on Boston television and said the report was inaccurate and the truth would come out. Everything would be fine at UMass.
The Courant won first place for investigative reporting in the Associated Press Sports Editors awards contest. The Final Four appearance by UMass was vacated by the NCAA. Calipari fled to the NBA.
“Well, we played Texas A&M and they took us to double overtime and we were lucky to get to overtime,” Calipari said Monday on the Notre Dame topic. “We played Mississippi in overtime and we were lucky to do that. Florida played us in a tough game on the road. I can go on and on. LSU had us beat down there. I mean, to say that that was by far the toughest game, I could have lied and said, ‘Oh, yeah, absolutely.’ But what I did say after the game was, Notre Dame played great. Then when I got up on the stage, I said, ‘Let’s give them a hand for the great game that they played.’ Now, it really doesn’t matter what I say, it could be construed however.”
It should be quite a week at the Final Four with Honest Cal.
Kentucky’s last loss was to UConn in the 2014 national championship game. Of course, the Huskies had great experience and senior leadership on their championship team last season, led by Shabazz Napier. Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan was asked Monday about the importance of strong voices in the locker room.
“I’ve always encouraged that because that’s the way my coach allowed me to be that I played for,” Ryan said. “There’s a lot of talk in our practices, in between possessions, guys going over things. I strongly encourage that. There’s always going to be voices in the locker room.
“We’ve been pretty fortunate to have some really good voices. I can only say that not because we’ve secretly taped them, but because of the way they’ve handled everything. It’s obvious to me that the right voices are being heard in the locker room when they’re away from the coaches.”
After UConn’s season-ending loss to Arizona State in the first round of the NIT, coach Kevin Ollie said he hoped to have everybody back next season and that no one had expressed a desire to transfer. That changed Monday when Rakim Lubin’s mother, Sabrina, took to Twitter and announced that her son is leaving UConn after one season. She said they have “officially opened” recruiting and are “looking at Division I schools.” So it will be a while before we find out where Lubin is headed. Lubin is 6-8 and has the muscle to battle inside but he didn’t get much playing time because he is raw and needs experience. Rubin was one of three UConn players suspended for violating a “team rule” during the Huskies’ visit to Puerto Rico early in the season. His exit leaves the Huskies thin up front. UConn has four scholarships available. Steve Enoch and Jalen Adams have committed to UConn, leaving Ollie with at least two scholarships to work with.
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Texas and coach Rick Barnes parted ways, reportedly after Barnes refused to make changes to his coaching staff. It’s no secret that Texas hopes it can land Wichita State’s Gregg Marshall or VCU’s Shaka Smart. Kevin Ollie is mentioned on one list of Texas candidates. That seems like pretty wild speculation.
It seems Barnes will land on his feet quickly – at Tennessee.
Chris Mullin is coming back to coach St. John’s and Lou Carnesecca is excited.
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A lot of coaches will be lusting after this player this summer.
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