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Much has been written about John Calipari over the years, mostly positive and a little undue negative. But this man never ceases to amaze me. He seems to always have his head in the right place, athletically, socially, philosophically, philanthropically, and politically. He never seems to miss a trick when it comes to attention grabbing. It's not always for himself but for the program, for the university, and for the community. Now, we know he's not without fault but it's hard to find unless you are living with him like his wife. His only slip was last seasons NIT debacle which he and the BBN would like to forget but unfortunately it's in the book. He showed he could slip into the woodwork for a spell.
It's little wonder he's such a good recruiter contrary to what of the national media are constantly attempting to shape him into. The guy can relate to kids and people in general. This writer has the opportunity to not only be up close in interview sessions but also up close and personal periodically around the breakfast counter.
The gesture Cal performed with the scholarship granting was great and something he had done at UMass in the 1994-'95 season. But in addition to that he brought the youngsters to the post-game presser for a throng of perhaps fifty media types to interview.
In relation to his team he talked about how the practice stats were sent to the player's iPod's daily for them to analyze. "Stats indict you - film convicts you," the coach said.
When it come to much of the aforementioned Cal is miles ahead of the rest of the SEC coaches. What the SEC needs in the basketball coaching ranks is some charismatic-energy. Since Bruce Pearl left Tennessee, this is a dry league compared to the past. There have been some colorful coaches in the SEC down through the years - Auburn's Sonny Smith and guitar playing Cliff Ellis; LSU's Dale Brown; Georgia's Hugh Durham; South Carolina's Frank McGuire and the dry humor of Eddie Fogler; Alabama's Wimp Sanderson; Arkansas' Nolan Richardson; Vanderbilt's C. M. Newton; Tennessee's aforementioned Bruce Pearl, Buzz Peterson and Kevin "Mad Dog" O'Neal.
Many of these guys were very good basketball coaches and of those of this ilk we can talk about Ray Mears, Lon Kruger and presently Billy Donovan. In a sentence the SEC needs a shot in the arm charismatically among it's head coaches.
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