Five-Star camp rivalry renewed when Kentucky faces Cincinnati

By LARRY VAUGHT

LOUISVILLE — Cincinnati associate head coach Larry Davis says he has known Kentucky coach John Calipari "for a long, long time" because they once worked Five-Star Camp together.

"I've seen him, obviously his career, come up through his career. Obviously, I have great respect for him. He's done a great job. People don't understand — everybody thinks, 'Hey, you've got all those All-Americans and all these future pros, you just throw them out there, and it's easy.' It's not easy. It's not," Davis said Friday as he was preparing to face No. 1 Kentucky here Saturday.

"I coached at Oak Hill Academy (in Virginia) where I had six or seven high Division I players the two years I was there. It's not easy to mesh those egos, and he's done a good job of that. He's won every place he's been. You've got to respect him as a coach."

Davis likes one other thing a lot about Calipari that might irritate others.

"One thing I do like about John, he speaks his mind. He doesn't hold back. It isn't always politically correct because he says what's on his mind. That's refreshing in today's coaching," Davis said.

"He's done a good job with his team and meshing the egos and guys. He's got a lot of good players. He's got arguably eight, nine, 10 pros. But that's not as easy as you think it is. Now, the flip side of that is you've got a lot of guys that can really play."

Calipari was also complimentary of Davis, an Asbury graduate. He had to take over at Cincinnati earlier this season due to a medical issue that sidelined coach Mick Cronin.

“He and I coached against each other when we were at Five-Star together and battled and went out and had fun at night. He's one of the few good guys in our profession,” Calipari said. “There's very few that could handle the situation like he is, and Mick (Cronin) believes in him, and they are loyal to each other. So he'll let Mick, come on, Mick, do your thing. This is your team. I'm just doing what I can to help, and that's how he's doing it. Yet he's got to coach the team. That's really difficult.”

Recruiting lesson: Calipari revealed a recruiting lesson he learned years ago when he had his first job on the Kansas staff and went to Oak Hill Academy to recruit Roy Brow. At the time, Cincinnati associate coach Larry Davis was the head coach at Oak Hill.

“”I walk in, and I say, I'm from Kansas at the time. I'd just been on the road. Put me on the road, I go out, I get all the information about Kansas, and I start talking about Kansas and Kansas this and Big 12 — Big 8 Championships and all that Kansas has done,” Calipari said Friday. “We had every major you could want except veterinary medicine in farming. If you want that, you've got to go to Kansas State. Just a little fun thing to say.

So I said, "Roy, what do you want to major in?" He said, "veterinary medicine." Larry was in the room when that happened. Now I usually ask what do you want to major in before I start talking.”

Brow eventually went to Virginia Tech.

Strong arm: During Friday’s press conference, a Cincinnati media member asked Calipari if he remembered coming to Great American Ballpark to throw out a ceremonial first pitch after UK won the 2012 national title and getting booed by some fans at the Cincinnati Reds game.

“I didn't think there was boos. And by the way, I threw a BB that day. Do you remember? I knocked the catcher over. He went right on his back. I did a Luis Tiant (with the pitch). I kicked my leg up and fired a BB,” Calipari smiled and explained.

“Whether it's here in Louisville, whether it's in Cincinnati or other areas that we have a lot of fans, there are fans of other programs in those cities, and I accept that. It doesn't bother me. I don't think the fans of Cincinnati are going to cheer when I walk in the building, nor will the fans of Louisville.”

Seeding flap: It was in the round of 32 last year that No. 8 seed Kentucky ousted unbeaten Wichita State, the No. 1 seed, and then went on to the national title game.

“No, we were mis-seeded by 100. Don't say that. We were really good, and Wichita State got screwed,” Calipari said when asked about last year’s seeding. “Until you said that, you had to remind me of last year's seeding. At this point, the seeding doesn't mean anything.

“When a 14 takes out a 3, they become the 3 seed. So if a 10 takes out a 7, they're now the 7 seed. If they go against a 2 and win, they're now the 2 seed. That's just how this thing is. Seeding, everybody is 0-0 (when the tournament starts). You play games now. Eight seed, 9 seed, it doesn't matter.

“I really don't spend much time watching the games, but I may flip it on, see who's on. Teams that are playing with desperation look pretty good, and if two teams play with desperation, it's a great game.”