After attempting to shut the FBI questions down at Kentucky media day, and ultimately just saying that he had not been contacted, John Calipari was a bit more responsive to the questions at SEC media day.
They weren’t directly about Kentucky’s involvement in the scandal, but Cal instead spoke this time about how a coach keeps his program in order.
“Through the hiring process,” he said. “The guys you’re hiring are basketball coaches that are into what we’re doing, into the kids, that also know our culture and how we do things — and it is different — right down (to) managers. You’re responsible for them, too, now. From managers on up, you meet with them, you talk to them about it. I have good people around me and I feel good about how we do what we do.”
It’s no surprise that Calipari is making sure his culture in the Kentucky basketball program is all about what’s best for his players. That’s always what he’s been about.
Calipari also talked about how this scandal could change college basketball for the better.
Cal said that behaviors will certainly change, because now people are going to be afraid of going to jail for what they’re doing. He then made it about the kids again.
“The question is going forward: Are we going to make this better for these kids? That’s the question that’s out there.”
Cal also said that regardless of what the NBA does about one-and-done, Kentucky will benefit from it.
Other SEC coaches spoke about the investigation as well, including Alabama’s Avery Johnson. Alabama became apart of the scandal after doing an internal investigation that resulted in the resignation of the school’s associate athletic director.
Avery Johnson on his second question about the FBI investigation: pic.twitter.com/kEKCYpXfD5
— Kyle Tucker (@KyleTucker_SEC) October 18, 2017
“We’ve already released a statement about that and I’m just here to talk about our team,” Johnson said when first asked about the investigation. “In the future, if there’s something else that we need to say about it, we’ll say it at the appropriate time.”
Coaches from Texas A&M, Tennessee, Florida, Mississippi State, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt and Missouri all said they had not been contacted about the FBI scandal.