The rumors never stop. On Wednesday, Yahoo Sports insider Vincent Goodwill reported that plenty of NBA executives believe Coach John Calipari could make the jump from Kentucky to the NBA.
“Calipari is a bit of a surprise here, but multiple sources tell Yahoo Sports Calipari would be open to jumping back into the NBA,” Goodwill wrote, via Yahoo Sports. “He had a taste in the late 90s, taking over the then-New Jersey Nets following a stint at UMass that didn’t go particularly well. But the changing dynamics at Kentucky, along with the massive expectations from the fan base and alumni, could have him looking for a second bite.”
But once those rumors started to gain traction, Coach Cal went to Twitter to shut down the rumors.
“It’s that time of the year! Why do rumors always start when we’re in the middle of recruiting? I have the best job in the country w/ the best opportunity to impact young people & add value to their careers – and that hasn’t changed,” Calipari tweeted. “This season can’t come fast enough! Let’s go!”
This is all after Kentucky had one of their worst seasons in program history and didn’t make the NCAA Tournament. They came in 8th place in the SEC and missed the tournament for the first time since 2013. Many coaches would retire or leave the school due to embarrassment but it looks like Calipari is going to weather the storm and recruit harder and better to bring the Wildcat fanbase another championship.
Since 1992, the team made the NCAA Tournament 26 of 29 times but after going 3-13 in the SEC, they had won just 36 percent of their games in conference play. There was no chance we’d see this team in the NCAA Tournament again. Certainly, Kentucky had chances to win a lot of the early games in the season and didn’t win. But things clearly fell off the tracks after Calipari suspended freshman Cam’Ron Fletcher in a bizarre manner and said he was immature.
So speculation obviously grew. Maybe Calipari wants to coach more mature adults. At the same time, the team was without Terrence Clarke and Keion Brooks, who combined to play just 22 games. In the off-season, Clarke was killed in a brutal car accident and Calipari had to keep his Kentucky family together during that tough time. So from there, it would be tough to leave the university after that took place. To Kentucky and the Clarke family, it would likely feel like a backstab.
All in all, Calipari never found success in the NBA and found a whole lot of success in college basketball. He went 72-112 as head coach of the New Jersey Nets and had been an assistant for the 76ers in the 1999-2000 seasons. Since 2009, Calipari has won the National Championship (in 2012) and developed star talent like Antony Davis and Devin Booker.
According to that same Yahoo Sports’ report, an NBA executive said of Calipari’s NBA interest, “College basketball is a sinking ship. He is much different than he was in his first go-round but that ego is hard to tame.”
There haven’t been many coaches that have had success at the college level that found more success at the professional level. The only coaches in the NBA, as of late, that have done that are Billy Donovan and Brad Stevens. At times, both of these coaches had success but didn’t and haven’t won as much in the professional game. Stevens moved on from head coaching to be the president of basketball operations for the Celtics while Billy Donovan just took over the Chicago Bulls head coaching position. Neither coach has found real stability just yet.
Coach Calipari should not leave college for the pros. He gets to recruit and develop premier talent and if one season goes wrong, he can recruit new players to succeed. At the professional level, coaches are stuck with athletes who have long term contracts and just don’t fit with the team. Why worry about any of that?
Kentucky will be right back in the NCAA Tournament next year with their recruiting class and with COVID leveling off, the preparation and practice leading up to the season will be huge for this team and really all of the big powerhouse teams that recruit five-star freshmen.