John Calipari is still among the most feared recruiters

When you think about coaches that you don’t want to recruit against, a few come to mind, such as Bill Self, John Calipari, Rick Stansbury, and others.

Recently, Jamie Shaw of On3 asked college coaches who they would not want to recruit against, and some of them said John Calipari, which is not a surprise with how well he does with recruiting.

One ACC coach said there that it is John Calipari and Bill Self that he does not want to go against in recruiting.

“Our biggest fights come against Bill Self (Kansas) and John Calipari (Kentucky). They have continued and sustained success.”

Another coach from the Big 10 does not want to go against Duke or Kentucky.

“We don’t want to go up against Duke or Kentucky for anyone.”

It makes sense why teams don’t want to go against Calipari and Kentucky in recruiting. Kentucky has won many big recruiting battles to get key players on the team, such as Kevin Knox, who many thought was going to Duke, and Jamal Murray, who many thought was going to Oregon.

There was even a time when Justin Edwards was considered a Tennessee lean.

CBS Sports writer Gary Parrish said on a radio show that a coach believed John Calipari stole a recruit from them, with Calipari responding.

“Yes I am the type of guy who can come in at the last minute and take any player I want from you,” said John Calipari. “You can spend your whole life recruiting a kid and at the end of the day, if I want him, I’ll get him. If we want him, we’ll get him. Don’t ever get that confused.”

Although Calipari has never been able to confirm this story, it still feels nice that coaches still fear Calipari and Kentucky when they are trying to recruit a player. After being successful his whole coaching career it makes sense that Calipari can still end up getting a recruit, even if it is late into the process.

Just know John Calipari is never asleep, and he is wide awake.