Revisiting Mark Story's 2009 Column Warning Kentucky Not to Hire Cal

[Joneslab]

I'd completely forgotten about this piece...and really about Mark Story at all. I follow him on Twitter but he's strangely silent about Kentucky basketball on there.

http://thecomeback.com/freezingcoldtakes/ncaa/in-2009-kentucky-sportswriter-warned-john-calipari-would-bring-shame-on-wildcats-that-has-yet-to-arrive.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

[Spiritof96]

I guess shame and scandal are technically still on the table...

Back then I was posting all over WCN that this was a disaster, that Cal was dirty, and that we would live to regret his hiring. (he hadn't been hired yet)

I was wrong. My perspective on Cal is that he is much more palatable when you see more of him that an occasional blurb on ESPN. I was wrong about his personality, wrong about how he handles coaching, and wrong about his school of thought. (and so far wrong on the scandal thing)

I don't think I would prefer another coach in college BB.

[Dwight Schrute]

I guess shame and scandal are technically still on the table...

Back then I was posting all over WCN that this was a disaster, that Cal was dirty, and that we would live to regret his hiring. (he hadn't been hired yet)

I was wrong. My perspective on Cal is that he is much more palatable when you see more of him that an occasional blurb on ESPN. I was wrong about his personality, wrong about how he handles coaching, and wrong about his school of thought. (and so far wrong on the scandal thing)

I don't think I would prefer another coach in college BB.

Ditto for me. I wanted Tom Izzo at the time, and swore up and down Cal was dirty.

I think Tom Izzo would've done well here because I think he's a hell of a coach - but his record wouldn't have been better than Cal's. And we sure wouldn't have had the type of players we've had.

But in all facets of the game, I've been wrong about Cal. I thought his players didn't go to class, and we're continually near the top in terms of APR. I don't know how many have graduated, but I know they go to class. I thought his players got in trouble, and we've had remarkably few run-ins with the law.

Maybe he's the ultimate con man and we're gonna be left in a pile of rubble when he leaves, but I don't think.

[Dwight Schrute]

I've also found Cal to be a lot more genuine as well. As weird as it is, I feel like his marketing schtick is just who he is. He has a rare talent of being a good salesman who's straightforward and transparent.

[Jeff ROCKober]

....and yet Roy Williams gets away scott free with the worst academic scandal in history. Imagine if this happened in Lexington and what they would say about Cal......

Some programs and coaches get a pass and are innocent until proven guilty but Cal and there are others, are guilty until proven innocent.

[Spiritof96]

I've also found Cal to be a lot more genuine as well. As weird as it is, I feel like his marketing schtick is just who he is. He has a rare talent of being a good salesman who's straightforward and transparent.

This!

Cynics would accuse me of not caring because he wins but I really like the guy. I think he does shoot straight with players and genuinely cares about them.

I would also point out that there appears to be far more warmth between him and former players than was the case with one of his very successful predecessors.

I also really like his pragmatic contrarian way of looking at the business of big time college sports.

[Dwight Schrute]

This!

Cynics would accuse me of not caring because he wins but I really like the guy. I think he does shoot straight with players and genuinely cares about them.

I would also point out that there appears to be far more warmth between him and former players than was the case with one of his very successful predecessors.

I also really like his pragmatic contrarian way of looking at the business of big time college sports.

Absolutely agree about the warmth of former players. I know for 18 year old mercenaries who don't care about the school or the program, an awful lot of those guys sure do come back for his camps or various charities and to spend time with him and other players in the NBA offseason.

[boomdaddy]

Calipari was my pick from the get go when UK's AD made the dumb choice to hire Billy Clyde. I still remember a portion of fans that wanted Billy Donavan from the Pitino tree. I have never been a fan of putting blinders on and limiting your search to in house prospects. Those fans that got on soap boxes and claimed UK was headed for probation, were just plain wrong. Not everyone can be correct in their perception of strangers that they have never met and situations that they have limited knowledge about.

[Joneslab]

IIRC from that Story column there was a line about President Todd coming in to find World Wide Wes sitting in Calipari's office with his feet up on the desk.

It's odd how little you hear about WWW these days.

[J.Jennings]

I still wanted Billy D as the first choice because somewhere in the back of my mind I still have visions of UK basketball in the 90's playing 90 feet of full court chaos. With that being said, I was all for Calipari and never understood why we didn't go after him after Tubby, the same feeling i had about why we didn't go after Billy D 2 years in at Marshall prior to Tubby Smith ball.

Looking back, not one coach out there could have done what Cal has done at Kentucky not only on the basketball court, but fan base connection and everything in between. Calipari was absolutely the first and best choice for this job, probably won't realize this fully until he's gone...

As for the debate on X's and O's, I complain sometimes but it's not like he's stupid. Before the Arkansas game, I like his clip and speech to the team about pressing Arkansas, he left it up to his players. This guy simply pushes buttons and motivates and he lets raw talent win out in the end. For the most part it works because players buy in and believe in Coach Cal...

[J.Jennings]

Calipari was my pick from the get go when UK's AD made the dumb choice to hire Billy Clyde. I still remember a portion of fans that wanted Billy Donavan from the Pitino tree. I have never been a fan of putting blinders on and limiting your search to in house prospects. Those fans that got on soap boxes and claimed UK was headed for probation, were just plain wrong. Not every can be correct in their perception of strangers that they have never met and situations that they have limited knowledge about.

Billy D should have been hired prior to Tubby, but that's another story for another day. Only a idiot would be blind not to see that he was a special coach with just 2 years in at Marshall, someone dropped the ball on that one. Had Tubby stuck to Georgia and Tulsa ball playing Rick's style of play, things may haven been different at Kentucky. CORRECT ME IF I AM WRONG, but most of us UK fans accepted Tubby as coach because we felt we where getting Rick Pitino ball to stay in Lexington with the hiring. When it became clear this was not the case, this is when the fan base started turning on Tubby.

[Joneslab]

Donovan was in his third year of D1 coaching when Tubby was hired and was coming off a 13-17 season at Florida. He was 32 years old.

Don't think there was enough there to hire him at the time...but it is interesting to think about what might have been if he would have been hired.

[Dwight Schrute]

I wanted Billy Donovan in '07 when Tubby left. Still think he woulda done well here, but I wonder how much of his fire he'd have maintained had he not gone to the pros. When he said no, I had no idea who we'd get. I thought Billy Clyde had a good, if short track record. He'd turned around two programs that weren't much of anything before he got there, and I thought he'd do well here. He almost became the coach at Arkansas before ultimately accepting a new contract at A&M, and I actually think had he not imploded, he'd have succeeded wildly at Arkansas. He'd be able to recruit Texas and still coach basketball in a football conference. Ultimately, coaching here seems to have really screwed him up mentally.

In any event, it takes a personality to be coach at Kentucky, and Cal has exactly what is needed. I always thought he was Pitino like in that regard, but he's not. Cal has a swagger and high level of confidence, but he lacks the egomaniacal god complex of Pitino. Cal's weirdly a lot more down to earth in that regard.

[boomdaddy]

I never wanted Tubby and never wanted Donavan. Billy the Kid got lucky at Florida with those players and never caught lightning in a bottle after that...I never liked Donavan..he reminded me of Eddie Munster.......After Calipari's kid graduates, the fan base will have to hear the rumor mill of him leaving for the NBA again. I think he will retire here. Who knows. I do know that the fan base always has unrealistic expectations and nobody can live up to those standards. I feel sorry for the beating that the next coach will take from the fan base and the press.. I won't feel sorry for the salary that he will make or the buyout package he will take after he gets fired.

I do think Pitino has a history of being prickly with fans and Calipari is more fan friendly. That being said, I am not one of those people that approach people and ask for their auto graph or bother them in public. I saw Cal at a game that he attended to watch his son play. The locals left Cal alone. I was very happy about that. Cal came over and shook everyone's hand. That was cool. But if he had stayed to himself, that would have been fine as well. I do think people encroach on others, when they shouldn't. So, maybe some of the stories about Pitino getting surly with fans man not be all his fault.

[George]

I never wanted Tubby and never wanted Donavan. Billy the Kid got lucky at Florida with those players and never caught lightning in a bottle after that...I never liked Donavan..he reminded me of Eddie Munster.......After Calipari's kid graduates, the fan base will have to hear the rumor mill of him leaving for the NBA again. I think he will retire here. Who knows. I do know that the fan base always has unrealistic expectations and nobody can live up to those standards. I feel sorry for the beating that the next coach will take from the fan base and the press.. I won't feel sorry for the salary that he will make or the buyout package he will take after he gets fired.

Rosy outlook from top to bottom.