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  • SEC Q&A with C.M. Newton



    Question: Is it good or bad for basketball in Kentucky to have Louisville and UK both so good at the same time with coaches as dynamic as they both have?
    Newton: “I think it is good. It just separates Kentucky as a state from the rest of the world. To have both of them in the state, is a tremendous bonus for the state. Cal is perfect for UK. He is the perfect coach. He understands the landscape. I think Rick is the perfect guy at this time for Louisville. I wouldn’t have thought so when Rick first came to us at Kentucky, but I think now he is the perfect guy at Louisville.”

    Question: Do they recharge each other?
    Newton: “Sure. I think they keep each other ... honest is the wrong word ... but they keep each other really involved in basketball. Rick needs a challenge and so does John. Their challenge is provided in their own state.”

    Question: Have they put all the national spotlight back on basketball in Kentucky?
    Newton: “Yes. I don’t think there is any question about that. Then take what has been done in the women’s programs at both universities as well as the men. Louisville goes to the Final Four and Kentucky almost did last year. It’s amazing to me the kind of run that Kentucky has had in the two sports.”

    Question: When you hired Pitino over 20 years ago, did you think he would still be coaching?
    Newton: “No. A matter of fact, I tried to talk him out of going to Louisville at one point. I wanted Rick to take either the Indiana or Michigan job or some job in another league. I didn’t want him in the same state because to me he is the best coach I have ever been around period, and I have been around a lot of great ones. You can name them off. But Rick to me is the consummate coach. He is smart as heck.
    “Now Cal is the perfect basketball coach in the modern era as I see it with this one-and-done business. I am not sure anybody else short of him ... I am willing to say no one short of him could pull this off. Particularly with the academic restrictions on there. He is a master coach, master teacher. I think the state is just very fortunate to have both of them.”

    Question: From an administrative standpoint, how do you view all Calipari does from telethons to trophy tours to alumni games to fantasy camps and more?
    Newton: “He is a promoter and Cal promotes UK. Yet I am an old-school AD (athletics director), so I would probably have a problem with some of that. I know with Rick I told him there would be times he would have to take no as an answer. I never will forget when Pitino came to me after we renovated Memorial Coliseum and the locker room, and it had been the same I had as a player in the last 40’s and 50’s. Then he said he needed some exercise bikes to keep from pounding legs in practice late in the season so I can get the ready for the tournament. I thought that makes sense. But the kind of exercise bike he wanted cost $4,000 to $5,000 each. They had televisions and all that stuff. Then I thought that I wished I had been smart enough to do that when I coached, and I wasn’t. That’s why I say he is in a league by himself. He is very innovative, but he was willing to take no for an answer. I have never worked with Cal, so I don’t know if he would take no for an answer or not.”

    Question: Is Pitino a better coach now than 20 years ago?
    Newton: “Yeah. He has gotten better. I think the Celtic experience really humbled Rick in a good way. He came back (to Louisville) and he really wanted to coach basketball. He has done a great job there.”

    Question: Could last year’s  NIT season do the same for Calipari?
    Newton: “I think so. If you look at Kentucky last year, until Nerlens Noel got hurt, they were on track to get in the NCAA. They were a shoo-in. When he got hurt, it went down the drain. Then losing to Robert Morris hurt not only Kentucky, but it hurt the whole league. That was unfortunate, but I am sure that got Cal really going again.”

    Question: Who wins the Kentucky-Louisville game this year?
    Newton: “I have no idea. The one with the best players. Players win games, not coaches. But they both have really good players and coaches.”
    Comments 10 Comments
    1. UKHistory's Avatar
      UKHistory -
      Good interview. I think CM made a telling point when he admits to discouraging Pitino from taking the UofL job.

      I know CM discouraged Ralph Willard from taking the UT job (with the idea that Ralph would have been on the short list to coach the Cats).

      Great to chat with CM at this event.
    1. CitizenBBN's Avatar
      CitizenBBN -
      Interesting. Yes CM is more "old school", which is why he was just another AD in an endless line of ADs at UK who had no concept of how to market UK. UK basketball is so big, so powerful that you can do absolutely nothing to promote it and sell out every game and get the big TV contracts. The BBN is so mighty you don't have to market, and the program so desirable you don't have to invest. That's why UK assistants even in basketball were paid under market for so long, including all during CM's tenure, and why CM retained Ivy, who held that same view and inherited it from Hagan.

      I doubt Cal would take "no" very well if there weren't a good reason for it. $5K for a bike? Hell, how about $7 million for a locker room? Don't want to spend it, Cal goes and raises it himself. He'd have those bikes whether the AD was smart enough to listen to him and cut the check or not.

      Also its interesting he talked about losing to Robert Morris as bad for the league and UK, giving the loss significance, when the only reason we played there and gave ourselves every chance to lose was b/c of the "old school AD" decisions about putting in the resources to juggle a game here along with hosting the NCAA. We could have played at Rupp or Memorial and even though we were a pitiful team at that point we'd have probably won at least 2 games in the NIT. Two games towards the all time total.

      I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm ready for a "New School" AD run at Kentucky, hopefully starting with Cal when he retires from coaching. Someone with vision who isn't still operating like it's 1950 and the AD's job is to narrowly administer and pinch pennies.

      Good interview Larry. I find it very interesting, and don't want to get too far off topic of the Rick discussion either. All my sources at UK at the time (and I had good ones) said CM wasn't unhappy when Rick left b/c it was becoming "tail wags dog" and CM didn't like it. This conversation to me reinforces that view, Rick was big enough that he didn't have to take no for an answer if he didn't want to, and that may have been an issue CM saw on the horizon. The new Pitiner Arener comes to mind as one of the more public rough spots.
    1. UKHistory's Avatar
      UKHistory -
      Citizen,

      I heard the same thing. One reason CM wanted Tubby was that he thought he could be controlled. If memory serves Tubby was not even consulted prior to the UNC contract being signed.

      There is no excuse for that.

      The Robert Morris loss was painful but the next day we got Julius Randle and as far away the countdown to this year began.

      CM is not big picture thinker or a marketer. In fact I think CM greatly underestimated the loyalty and commitment of the Kentucky fanbase. Give credit to Pitino and the Unforgettables but also our fans that cheered and on our team through 14-14 like no fan base ever.

      I remember in 89-90 at the Freedom Hall game against UNC. UK was actually selling Carolina merchandise. CM had so little faith in our fans he was trying to sell Carolina.

      YUCK!
    1. LarryVaught1's Avatar
      LarryVaught1 -
      Great points guys
    1. catmanjack's Avatar
      catmanjack -
      At times I really could careless about what guys like CM has to say
      he really did very little for UK but get paid nicely, remember the
      vacation home UK bought him.
    1. ajp40505's Avatar
      ajp40505 -
      I care so little about what C.M. has to say that I skipped the interview and just read the thread.
    1. dan_bgblue's Avatar
      dan_bgblue -
      I heard the same thing. One reason CM wanted Tubby was that he thought he could be controlled. If memory serves Tubby was not even consulted prior to the UNC contract being signed.
      CM and Ivy did not care at all what Tubby wanted or needed. Tubby was never consulted about the schedule, and it was brutal at times. After the original group of Tubby assistants went off for HC jobs, Ivy and Barnhart decided who would be hired as assistants. Tubby wants a new SC coach? CM has a nephew that needed a job.

      It was beyond pathetic, and in some areas still is
    1. jazyd's Avatar
      jazyd -
      Thought it was interesting when he said pitino had been humbled
    1. CitizenBBN's Avatar
      CitizenBBN -
      Quote Originally Posted by dan_bgblue View Post
      CM and Ivy did not care at all what Tubby wanted or needed. Tubby was never consulted about the schedule, and it was brutal at times. After the original group of Tubby assistants went off for HC jobs, Ivy and Barnhart decided who would be hired as assistants. Tubby wants a new SC coach? CM has a nephew that needed a job.

      It was beyond pathetic, and in some areas still is
      You'd think with CM being a coach it wouldn't have been like that, but everything I know from that time agrees with everything you said. We lost Tubby's best recruiter b/c he could DOUBLE his salary by becoming a pro scout, and those guys aren't all that highly paid. Ivy was a notorious penny pincher, and CM had him running day to day operations and finally put him in as AD. Do everything on the cheap, don't give the coaches scheduling control or hiring control, blame them when you lose. As you said, the nepotism was rife as well.

      He did some good things, like the CATS program, but then would do something idiotic like not paying to keep an assistant. Go figure.
    1. UKHistory's Avatar
      UKHistory -
      Coaches need a great voice in the schedule. I know Cal and Mitch disagreed on UK having two open exhibition games (as opposed to the unofficial scrimmage with another division I team that can not be discussed,written about, etc).

      The two exhibition games are revenue producers and we could not lose them for an event that no one could pay to see.

      But coaches need some level control. I loved renewing the Carolina contract but was very disappointed that Tubby learned about it from Tipton.

      That should never happen. And if you are big name coach or want to be treated like that, you can't let that happen.
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