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By: LARRY VAUGHT
As soon as the Hoophall Miami Invitational talked to Kentucky coach John Calipari about playing, he said he knew it would be a “premier event.” Plus, it also gave him a chance to see two former assistants, Orlando Antigua of South Florida and Josh Pastner of Memphis.
Kentucky will play South Florida in Miami Friday at 5 p.m. Memphis will play Ohio State in the second game.
“To have two people who helped me build programs, that did such a great job to make me look good in Josh and Orlando, and they’re a part of this too, that’s a big deal for me. I’m disappointed I have to play one of them, Orlando. I would’ve rather they played each other so I could just watch the game and be proud. But it’s going to be a terrific event,” said Calipari.
Calipari said part of his job is to help coaches like Antigua and Pastner become head coaches.
“I need to be about them and their success and helping them get where they’re trying to go. When you look at both guys, both guys are in tough situations, tough jobs. They’re all tough. So you’re seeing the success of Josh – and not many have gone to Memphis and had the success he’s had. And what I’m seeing from both guys – they were hired for a reason, and one of them was they’re really talented at what they do,” Calipari said.
“They’re good people. They’re gatherers. They’re great recruiters. People want to be around them. They’re also great teammates, that they would step back so someone else could step up. That’s why our staffs were so good. Now they’re doing it as head coaches and I get to sit there and watch it with pride.
“I struggle when they lose, I’m ecstatic when they win. I think both, again, are young coaches who are as good at their age as anybody. And the future for both is bright. It’s just now, as they go forward, continuing to coach, continuing to grow, continuing to recruit better and better players each time, and I think they’re both doing that.”
Antigua said he learned a lot from Calipari at Memphis and Kentucky, including that the program has to be about the players.
“Their well being and you challenging them to be better people. About them having success in the classroom and their own personal lives and that translates to success on court,” the South Florida coach said. “He has made it about his players and staff. That’s why he has had the success he’s had. We try to take a little portion of that for our program.”
Calipari watched most of South Florida’s win over Albany Tuesday and finally got word Antigua’s team won while the national anthem was being played before UK’s win over Boston University.
“I watched him and got to know him. And when he got into coaching, stayed close with him and had an opportunity at Memphis and he came with me, did a fabulous job, just like he did here,” Calipari said. “I mean, I've not ever met one person that has anything bad to say about him. And I tried to hire guys that that's how they are because everybody talks bad about me. So you would like to have people around me they're thinking good things about.
“He's done a great job. They lost some games. But if you watch the games, they're running good stuff, they're organized, they're getting the shots, they're missing a lot of shots. They're missing a lot of 3’s. But they're trying, they're fighting.”
Calipari said Antigua has a “hard job” and wil need time to succeed.
“It takes one or two, three classes to come together and then you see it (success),” Calipari said. “But when you're walking into a situation like that, it's just hard to say, hey, we're going to .... I remember at UMass we were 10-18 and 17-14 my second year and they were saying like, ‘Man, I'm not sure this guy can do this.’ And then by my third year, we were 21-14. Happened to get to the NIT and still questioning what we're doing.
“And then I got that group of seniors and then we started going and it changed the whole thing up there. But it takes time. It took four years. My fourth year is where we started getting to where we were pretty good.”
Calipari said South Florida would play at Rupp Arena next year and that he talks to Antigua once a week or more.
“I hope he loses the next one. But after that I hope he wins them all. But, you know, he's somebody that's helped me in two different situations, Memphis and here, turn these things around and I wish him nothing but the best,” Calipari said. “And I think not only is he a great guy, a good person, a great heart, good family man, he's also a terrific basketball coach.”
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