After another early NCAA exit, Kentucky’s John Calipari needs to look in the mirror
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Game day: Oakland 80, Kentucky 76
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Thursday night’s men’s basketball game between Kentucky and Oakland at the NCAA Tournament in Pittsburgh.
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In the aftermath of Kentucky’s no longer shocking first-round exit from the NCAA Tournament, there is a question that should be asked.
If you’re John Calipari, do you really want to keep doing this?
You’re 65 years old. You’ve made more money in your life than you ever dreamed you’d make. You’re in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. You’ve won a national championship. You’ve taken teams to six Final Fours. You’ve won over 850 games.
But the game has changed. And you haven’t. What worked in 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2015 isn’t working now. Thursday’s 80-76 loss to No. 14 seed Oakland was further proof.
Jay Wright got it right.
“That era of taking these young freshmen and trying to play against older players is over,” said the former Villanova coach on CBS’ postgame show. “I think (Calipari) did a phenomenal job with these guys all year getting them to be as successful as they were. You can see, they’re playing against grown men. The guys on Kentucky will be far better pros than any of these guys on Oakland or any of these guys in the tournament, but they’re not as good college basketball players.
“At this point in their career, they’re not as disciplined yet as the guys from Oakland. It’s not Cal’s fault. It’s that they’re 18 years old and they’re in this era where everyone’s telling them how great they are. ‘Just show up in college and you’re going to win.’ It doesn’t happen that way. And the more guys stay in college because of NIL, it’s going to be tougher for young teams like this to be successful.”
For a couple of years, you tried to go older. And it didn’t work. Your 2022 team lost in the first round to a No. 15 seed. Your 2023 team lost in the second. So you went back to your old formula of relying on highly recruited freshmen. That didn’t work either. Not this year. Not in the NCAA Tournament. Experience still matters.
If you were Tubby Smith, you would have already been fired. Smith won a national title in 1998, but went nine seasons without returning to the Final Four. After consecutive early NCAA exits, Smith was off to Minnesota. You’ve gone eight tournaments without a Final Four return. And you’ve gone four straight seasons without so much as a Sweet 16.
But you won’t be fired. They can’t fire you. You have a “lifetime contract,” with a $33 million buyout. You’re not responsible for that mistake. That’s on your bosses.
You’ve made your share of mistakes. You can’t help yourself. You’ve talked “gold standard” and “Kentucky is college basketball” and “We’re everyone’s Super Bowl” and “We’re built for March.” Cal being Cal.
“Can I humble brag?” you asked the moderator during Wednesday’s press conference before going into your recruiting pitch about how your former players have made billions of dollars in the NBA.
A day later, you were the one humbled.
You could use some humbling. You park your Cadillac on the yellow line outside the Craft Center. You complain about having to do your postgame radio show, though you are paid handsomely to do so. You once did every pregame press conference yourself. Now you let your assistant coaches handle those duties. You only talk to the media after games.
Yes, you coach for a demanding and often unrealistic fan base. You knew that when you took the job. It’s what makes Kentucky basketball Kentucky basketball. At a lot of places 23 wins, a top 10 AP ranking and a No. 3 NCAA Tournament seed would be cause for a parade. Kentucky isn’t one of those places.
So now you’re the one that has to look in the mirror. Are you still hungry enough? Are you still dedicated enough? Are you flexible enough? Are you willing to suffer the slings and arrows — some justified, some not — to prove that you are the coach you’ve always been and you can get Kentucky where it wants to go?
As we head into a summer of uncertainty for Kentucky basketball, those are questions only you, John Calipari, can answer.
This story was originally published March 22, 2024 at 8:24 AM with the headline "After another early NCAA exit, Kentucky’s John Calipari needs to look in the mirror."
