Did Calipari Take a Jab at Coach K in Recruiting?
CoachCal.com – I refuse to go in a home and paint a picture saying things like, “If you come with us you’ll be taken care of for the rest of your life by the program and by our alums” even though you may only be in school for a year or two. How preposterous does that sound? What if I say that same thing and the young man decides to transfer for one reason or another? Does that still hold true that we’re going to take care of them the rest of their lives? Our approach is to give them the fishing rod and the lures to help them catch fish, not to just give you the fish.
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The above statement was written in John Calipari’s vision of the program on his personal website. So what’s the big deal here? It’s the line about ‘being set for life’ which is a subtle jab at Duke and Coach K.
The rumor is his recruiting pitch to Hamidou Diallo – a 5-star player in the class of 2017 – was if he went to Duke he’d be set for life according to an interview he did with the Lexington Herald-Leader. Calipari on the other hand went in and made a pitch about making the NBA a reality. Both are accurate recruiting pitches, especially when both can back up their talk.
Ah, but the leaving the school after a year? Again another shot at Duke and the whole Derryck Thornton transfer disaster that unfolded recently. I don’t think Thornton has been set for life when he was recruited over which led his uncle to go on one of the best Twitter rants we’ve seen.
All in all it’s a subtle jab between the two best recruiters in the game and you know what? I’m all for it. These two should be calling each other out, especially in the recruiting world. It’s not a place to be kind and basketball needs character. As Clem said on my podcast before he thinks of college teams because of their coaches, not players. So you love Duke because of K and you hate Kentucky because of Calipari or vice versa.
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If you don’t think this is also a play in trying to secure five-star big man Marques Bolden for this year either, you’re insane.
They both need to embrace the role. Hell both should become the villain. K should call Calipari out in some grand fashion – and he’d get away with it because oh it’s just jolly ole K. In the meantime, this gif should work.
