Cal is smart enough to bring in quality 4 year players along with the OAD.A large part of the UK job is recruiting,which leads to winning.If Cal can bring in stud 5* players every year,he can dress like SuperFly for all I care : )

I expect more. Why must one trash the writer first instead of considering his point of view? He uses player’s quotes…none which is more disappointing than ths: ‘Because he’s a one-and-done coach’.

I mean really, is what he writes all that surprising? Instead of jumping on Jerry, maybe you should ask as fans, do you have buyer’s remorse? I would. UK has too much tradition, pride, etc to have their reputation thrown aside to be trumped by the all powerful Cal. Sheesh. Sad.

The only problem I have with the Tipton article is this;

What motivation from the NBA does coach have for being the so called “pimp” for them. Are they paying him? Is he looking for a job in the NBA?

No, he was hired to win at UK, be an ambasador to the Commenwealth, and be a role model to these student athletes.
Now, if part of that job requires him to get the best players, so be it if a couple of them are one and dones. Because we know that we will still get those 3 and 4 year guys as well. It’s a mix that wins games. Does he think that every recruit coach goes after is going to be a one and done? yeah right,

Coach Cal is a very attractive coach to these players, and maybe the DDM offense is as well, but it’s also the facility, the fans and the tradition that brings them here. It’s all of the above, not one or the other.

Coach is doing everything he can (as oldkentucky said) to help them reach their goals. Whether there goals are playing in the NBA, coaching, or going into the “real world”. He is being a role model and a good one in my opinion.

Go Big Blue!!!

The only collegiate program that can get away with losing and still remain “relevant” is Notre Dame football. Everyone else has to win.

Having said that, I’ll begrudgingly admit that 1 Final Four and UK is relevant again, whereas a program with less tradition would have more work to do.

“John Calipari is selling the NBA more than he’s selling Kentucky basketball”….

The truth of the matter is that there is actually very little UK basketball to sell right now. Let’s face it, our tradition and excellence has faded a bit and it obviously means very little (dare I say, almost nothing) to the top rated talent today, so Cal is selling what he has, a clever offense, and his recent reputation of being a gateway to the NBA. The college basketball world much like all business carries a "what have you done lately" motto and being a gateway, of sorts, to the NBA is what Coach Cal has been successful at recently and that’s what sticks in the minds of recruits and what is drawing them in.

IMO, since UK has ceased to be relevant on a national stage over the last few years, right now it appears as though UK needs the publicity and the results that the one-and-done players, i.e. — the best players in the country can provide more than they need us so I welcome them. My hope, of course, is that eventually, with enough positive results UK’s national relevance will return, and in the minds of today’s players we will once again be seen as UK in addition to a gateway to the NBA. That’s my hope, anyway, but that’s not reality right now, IMO.

I don’t see how this article paints John Calipari in a bad light.

Calipari has gotten farther than most already and I don’t think he’s an idiot. Some of his players will have enough talent to get to the NBA after one season and if that’s the case they should. Most won’t and will stick around for a spell and that’s what brings in championships. Within a few years he should have the right mix.

came here he was selling the very same thing wrapped in a different packaging. He was sold to the fans as a coach who could get his players into the NBA because he had experience and contacts there. Forty quotes above that Pitino had 9 players go to the NBA from UK. I go just a bit further in saying that he should also receive some credit for 5 more with Nazr, Shep,Turner, Padgett, Magloire all being recruited by him, so he at least saw the potential, even if he didnt coach them. UK had not had a major NBA presence in a long time, and the fans wanted the days of Phillips, Robey, Macy, and Co. to return.

Cal makes this once again a place where kids who want the NBA can come . No knock against Coach Smith or Gillispie, but our NBA presence has slipped somewhat. Yes, we have guys out there, but only a couple right now that are making their presence felt. With these kids going to the NBA younger and younger, and with the skill sets they bring to the table, the ability to bring in NBA level talent has become so much more important than it has been in the past. Tipton is always going to have a negative overtone to anything he writes, ( I personally think he and Hoze bowl together on weekends) but his overtone misses the obvious. It has to happen if we want to be competitive.

Our “tradition”, or “legacy” as Kentucky has not been tarnished, it has just gotten a little dusty. The ability of a program to adapt and stay relevant over time is the greatest test of all. Just ask UCLA if they want the 60’s back. Our program has never remained outside the pinnacle of this sport for very long. We have our ups and downs, but we ALWAYS come back stronger. Anyone who cannot see this is blind. And I could care less if it was John Calipari, John Wooden, or John Y Brown, we have to keep up, and we have found a way to do so. Tipton’s whining, or Hoze’s rhetoric isnt going to stop us any more than a changing of the guard. Deal with it folks, we are Kentucky, and we will overcome adversity wherever it rears it’s ugly head.

I highly doubt that any school would turn away John Calipari as a head coach. I also highly doubt that fan bases would not be excited at the prospect of the Calipari experience and all that it could entail. All the “hating” and negativity has to be rooted in jealousy at some level. UK has spent the past 5-6 years struggling and this has resulted in the UK tradition of “putting fear into their opponents” (etc.) becoming dim and in some cases forgotten. “UK’s days are over” became the mantra of SO many opposing (and some bandwagon UK) fans.

Now, here we are with this new opportunity. We have a new coach, a new style of play, and new highly regarded players. How can one help but be excited?? As far as any negativity goes, it really doesnt matter. I, for one, would much rather hear this type of “hate” than the “UK fell off” talk of late – or worse yet, nothing at all.

If UK didn’t have the tradition we wouldn’t have gotten the coach. Looks like tradition trumps again.

I’ve never liked Calipari and never will. Well, unless he has great success at UK, quits to coach in the NBA and fails miserably, and then ends up as UofL’s coach. Then I’d like him (this is where I’d put one of those smiley things if I didn’t hate them so much).

Did I really read (in so many words) on this post that history has passed? Of course it has. It is history. What one does today, if it is noteworthy, becomes written in the annals of history. Repeated and long history for an organization becomes tradition. How is someone selling the present have anything to do with the past? Coach Cal is selling the same thing that Coach Rupp sold, opportunity. Is Calipari a better coach for a pro hopeful than Gillispie, I would say (in my opinion) certainly. But while Coach Cal may have brought in Cousins, Wall, Bledsoe et. al. let us remember that other coaches brought in Orton and Hood and that they continue to want to play for the Blue! As does Patterson. It takes a good race horse AND a good jockey to win a race. Borel did not over-shadow Rachel Alexander, he just steered her to victory. I’ll take a storied history with a quality coach over either separately any day.

When does the season start?

Good point oldcat