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View Full Version : Kentucky coach speaks at Smart Futures event



imsoblue
09-21-2012, 10:54 AM
Tell us one more time, John.

Tell us: How do you win a national collegiate basketball championship, lose all five starters to the NBA and rebuild so quickly that you’re a serious contender the very next year?

Come on, John. Tell us.

John Calipari, head coach of the national championship Kentucky Wildcats last spring, was in Richmond Thursday to speak at the annual Smart Futures dinner for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Wayne County. He was invited by former Earlham College coach and close friend Del Harris, who emceed the event.

Back to the question, probably asked of Calipari dozens of times since the ’Cats defeated Kansas in New Orleans.

A quiet, relaxed smile.

“Life is the same. It hasn’t changed. Just keep marching forward and prepare another team,’’ he mused.

“I’m not one to look in the rear-view mirror. Last year is over. That trophy is in the case. Now, how do we make this team the best team it can be. All we’re trying to do is make sure we’re bringing in kids that understand that this (Kentucky) isn’t the easiest place to play basketball,” he said.

“I tell them that they will have to play at a high level, train at a high level, play with other guys who can play, and you must share and do it together.”

Simple formula but there’s nothing simple about the way Calipari coaches basketball.

“A lot of people think players at our level don’t attend class or are given their grades. Absolutely not true. Anthony Davis, No. 1 pick in the draft, was a 3.8 student and he finished the school year,” said the guest speaker.

“Davis in fact, if you can believe it, took the fifth most shots on our team and he was the No. 1 pick in the country.”

The Jeffers Unit Boys & Girls Club facility on the south edge of Richmond drew a huge crowd for the affair.

One of the main honorees was Lisa Shepherd-Stidham, a Richmond graduate and 1997 Miss Basketball of Indiana. Lisa is the assistant girls basketball coach to DeeAnn Ramey at North Central High School in Indianapolis, state champion last year.

“It was really exciting winning the state championship, especially with coach Ramey (a former Richmond coach who tutored Shepherd as a Red Devil),” Shepherd said.
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