Calipari at a loss for words

By LARRY VAUGHT



LEXINGTON — Not often is Kentucky coach John Calipari at a loss for words, but he insisted he was before Saturday’s game with South Carolina when he found out he was one of 12 finalists for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2015 that will be announced April 6 in Indianapolis prior to the national championship game.

A finalist needs 18 of 24 votes from the Honors Committee for election. The Class of 2015 will be enshrined during festivities in Springfield, Mass., on Sept. 10-11, and will included former UK guard Louie Dampier, who was already picked in a direct ballot by the American Basketball Association committee. Dampier was a second team All-American twice at UK and scored 1,575 points in three seasons — still 12th best at UK. He played in all nine ABA season and was first in the ABA in games played (728), minutes played (27,770), points scored (13,726), and assists (4,044).

Calipari said in a release from UK that it was an honor to even be considered for election.

“I am absolutely humbled by this. I want to thank the people at UMass, Memphis and Kentucky for giving (my wife) Ellen and I an opportunity to coach at three great institutions,” he said while also thanking former players and their parents.

After Saturday’s 77-43 win over South Carolina, sophomore guard Andrew Harrison said he heard about Calipari’s honor on social media.

“I’m very happy for him. He’s a great coach. Coach doesn’t want us to worry about that, but just focus on the team,” Harrison said.

Junior Willie Cauley-Stein said the team didn’t talk about the honor and that Calipari told the team about it after the win.

Cauley-Stein said Calipari’s reaction was similar to what it is to most things.

“The same. You kinda expect it. It’s not like it’s a surprise or anything,” Cauley-Stein said.

Calipari didn’t want to talk about the Hall of Fame during his postgame press conference.

“I'm honored and humbled when you see all the people they're talking about. And then people that I followed their whole careers,” he said. “But, and again it doesn't mean, they still have other votes, this means you're a finalist. But I would say what I tell my team all the time, during the season, it is about our team. When the season ends, it's about individuals.

“Right now we're in a season, so I'm not going to address it. This is it. I just addressed it. So I'm not talking about it anymore. When the season ends, if you want to ask me about it, I'll talk about it.”

South Carolina coach Frank Martin has been a Calipari fan and often has said he thought the UK coach deserved more credit for what he’s done in his career.

In his 22-plus years, he's guided five teams to the Final Four, including three in the last four years at UK. He has won a national championship and produced 30 NBA Draft picks, including 19 in his first five seasons at Kentucky. Included in those 30 draft picks are three No. 1 picks (Derrick Rose, John Wall and Anthony Davis). Calipari is the only coach with three top draft picks.

He has eight 30-win seasons, including five straight from 2006 to 2010 — a feat no other coach in NCAA Division I history has matched. He’s had 21 consecutive seasons of 20 or more on-court victories, more than all other active coaches.

Martin called Calipari’s nomination “awesome” after the game.

“Cal’s so deserving of that. It’s what he does for kids, for our game, the way his teams play. I don’t know why he’s never received the kind of credit that he deserves. He’s real good, and I’m so happy for that,” Martin said.

Joining Calipari as a first-time finalist are 39-year NBA referee Dick Bavetta, two-time NBA Coach of the Year Bill Fitch, all-time winningest boys high school coach Robert Hughes, eight-time NBA All-Star Dikembe Mutumbo, four-time Division III national champion coach Bo Ryan, seven-time NBA All-Star Jo Jo White, the all-time winningest high school coach Leta Andrews and three-time WNBA MVP Lisa Leslie. Previous finalists included again this year for consideration are five-time NBA All-Star Tim Hardaway, four-time NBA All-Star Spencer Haywood and three-time NBA All-Star Kevin Johnson.

Hawkins missing: Even though UK won by 34 points Saturday, sophomore Dominique Hawkins went from starter to only plaing four minutes. He made a 3-pointer, the only field goal attempt he had. Hawkins had started the last five games.

“Trey (Lyles) has been out. So I went and tried to play, continued to play nine guys. So Trey was out. The good news is, he (Hawkins) had his opportunity to really play,” Calpari said. “Now, Trey's back, we got to get back in that rhythm and I told him, and I told his teammates, that I'm making this decision based on Dom's good, he's just not as good as some of the other guys and they deserve their minutes.

“So, that's why we did it. Again, he was in this same position a year ago, we played Michigan, and he went in and guarded (Nik) Stauskas and did a great job. So I know we can count on him if we need him.”

Travel time: Former UK players James Young and Julius Randle, both starteers on last year’s team that reached the NCAA title game, were at Saturday’s game during a break in the NBA season for the All-Star Game.

“I just saw James for the first time. Julius was in the office last night, yesterday, and I spent some time with him and he was teasing me at the press conference yesterday,” Calipari said Saturday. “But it's great to see those guys.

“Now I am going to the All-Star Game to see all my other children (John Wall, Demarcus Cousins, Anthony davis). So as I give them (the team) Sunday off, I'm going to go to a high school game at 2 o'clock on Sunday, and then I'm going to that game there, and then flying back Sunday night. I'll be here to get ready for Monday and Monday's practice and travel to Tennessee.”