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  • Kentucky, Calipari looking for high character kids with a "will to win"

    By: LARRY VAUGHT


    He won’t be helping Kentucky coach John Calipari put together the final pieces of UK’s 2016 recruiting class, but former assistant coach Barry Rohrssen said Calipari has a special skill when it comes to recruiting.

    Maybe the word is succinct. He gets right to the point when he is recruiting someone and will let them know Kentucky is not for everybody. You are expected to play a certain way, work a certain way,” said Rohrssen, who came to UK from Pittsburgh for one year and is now headed to join the staff at St. John’s after UK’s 38-1 season.

    “That way has been working. Was this his fourth Final Four in five years and an Elite Eight the first year? He has a vision in his mind of what type of players he wants to recruit and coach.”

    Rohrssen joked that the differences recruiting for Kentucky versus some other schools where he had coached were pretty dramatic.

    “You mean a subway token or a chartered plane. It’s either Metro system in New York or Air Cal,” Rohrssen said.

    “I am sure for a long time Kentucky has always targeted the best players in the nation and they have done a very good job of doing that. Cal has come in and you can say he has done exceptional job if you want to look at the number of NBA players that have come and how he embraces the fact that he will have to do this over again next year and the next year.

    “One of the differences is that when you are inside that, it is almost uncomprehendible that he and his staff can repeat this year after year after year. The hard work that it takes to make a team and even a program successful is one thing. But to sustain to be even greater is so hard. He and his staff and administration are committed to not just keeping this thing at a high level, but at the highest of levels. “

    Rohrssen said most players have the same goals.

    “In the recruiting process most players may have a similar goal wanting to play in the NBA or at least a shot to play professionally somewhere,” Rohrssen said. “Cal understands that.”

    Rohrssen also credited assistant coach Kenny Payne for understanding how to recruit the type of players Calipari wants.

    “Kenny is a terrific guy. He does so much for the program and our players. So much for the staff. He is one of those guys that kids just gravitate to,” Rohrssen said. “He puts in so much effort and time with all these young men and you can tell with the relationships he has with the previous players and how the present players feel and look at him.”

    Perhaps that’s because Payne was so good with the players during their recruitment. He doesn’t change his approach whether he is talking to the player, a parent, an advisor or AAU coach.

    “Just be honest. Here is the reality. If you are honest and sincere in what you are trying to do for kids, they understand. We are not trying to trick anybody here,” Payne said. “We are not telling you to come here and promising you the world. That is not what is happening here. If there are people who have a misconception about what we are, we try to educate them and move on.

    “If we can work it out, great. At the end of the day it is about kids and their experiences, not adults. It is about the kids and we try to be honest with them. There are some people we have to say no, he is not our type of kid but for the most part kids know we operate like this and they respect it.”

    Kentucky is still pursuing a number of high level prospects to hopefully alleviate the loss of seven players to the NBA off this year’s Final Four team. Payne said UK not only wants talented players, but players with big dreams.

    “It is not a foregone conclusion anybody will be one and done in college and head to the NBA. You have to work hard. We want high character kids. We want kids with a will to win. Versatile kids that can play multiple positions and guys that are about winning,” Payne said. “You have to go to class. If you love basketball you will do the things to be successful in the classroom as well. I am sure everybody says it, but we try to do enough detail work on it that we walk out and know the kid’s situation.”

    He said UK has turned down talented players — perhaps as many as five — in his time with Calipari because something “was not quite right with this situation for us” and the player.

    Payne said looking for unselfish players like UK had this season was definitely part of the recruiting equation for John Calipari.

    “We have to deal with everybody. That’s just the nature of the business and it is not a negative. I am amazed at how many people try to put the AAU coaches, the handlers, as a negative thing,” Payne said. “These kids have people in their lives who were there to help them before they ever became stars.

    “We come along at the end and say come play for us. We only know them a few months. We need to know they are getting the right information and those people are good people and have their best interest at heart and for the most part it has been great with guys we have recruited.”
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