Big Blue Fans For

Basketball

John Calipari Era at Kentucky
2009-???

 

Coach Calipari Induction Speach for Hall of Fame

 

Dateline: Lexington, Kentucky. April 26, 2014.

Less than sixty two months ago, the University of Kentucky hired John Calipari to lead the men's basketball program back to prominence. Five seasons later have produced:

  1. 2010: Elite 8 - Unexpected loss to West Virginia when Team could not make an outside shot.
  2. 2011: Final 4 - Loss to UConn fell 2 wins short of a National Title Despite NCAA never allowing Enes Kanter to play a single minute of a single game.
  3. 2012: National Championship and one of the most dominant teams in UK history. The Championship run included wins over Indiana (Sweet 16), Baylor (Elite 8), Louisville (Final 4), and Kansas (Championship game).
  4. 2013: A season gone awry after first round draft pick, freshman Nerlens Noel goes down for the season, ripping the team's heart and soul apart
  5. 2014: Loss to UConn in the National Championship game despite having 7 freshmen and two sophomores in the top 9 rotation, and Losing Sophomore Willie Cauley-Stein to a stress fracture during the Sweet 16 game against Louisville. In successive NCAA Tournament games, the Cats beat undefeated, #1 Seed Wichita State (2013 Final Four Team), Louisville (2013 National Champion), Michigan (2013 National Runner up), and Wisconsin in the Final Four.
  6. 2015: With a roster that will possess rare championship level experience that runs 8 deep, and another banner freshman class, the 2014-15 Cats have already been proclaimed a 4:1 favorite to win another championship.

Looking back, the vision is better than 20/20, and it is clear that Coach Calipari has restored this program to the top of the sport, and all others are now looking up to measure the distance between themselves and Calipari's Cats. However, 61 months ago, Gregg Doyel saw what would occur, and wrote about it. Read it at the following link in its entirety. To wet the appetite, here is just a snippet of what Gregg Doyel saw coming on March 31, 2009, before the ink had completely dried on the Calipari-UK contract.

So what happens now that John Calipari is coaching Kentucky?

I'll tell you what happens. Kentucky will win like it's the Boston Celtics.

John Calipari will prove himself worthy of Kentucky fans' applause. College basketball as you know it? It's over. That sport doesn't exist anymore, because that sport had a semblance of parity. One year North Carolina is the dominant program. One year it's UConn. One year it's Duke or UCLA or Florida. Maybe those teams don't win the national title the year they're dominant, or maybe they do. Either way, every year there is a team that, on paper, is the dominant program in college basketball. And every year it's a different team.

Until now. Until John Calipari merges with Kentucky.

Once Calipari gets Kentucky rolling -- and it won't take him long -- Kentucky will be that team. That dominant team. Every year?

Yes. Every year.

Read the entire piece at this link, and if you are a member of the Big Blue Nation, just pause and smile because by all indications, 2015 should produce the 9th Championship for this proud program.

The Perfect Hire

After 3 Seasons at the Helm,
This Is A Statement Of The Obvious

 

 

Coach Calipari Has Been A Lightning Rod
For Criticism and Attack, and Now With UK's Own Lightning Rod With His,
The Lightning Strikes Seem Continuous.
READ WHY HERE!!!!

 

Four More Kentucky Players Drafted by NBA !!!!
Enes Kanter #3-Utah
Brandon Knight #8-Detroit
Josh Harrellson #45-New York
Deandre Liggins #53-Orlando

Who will be Taken From the 2011-12 Cats'?

2011 Recruiting Class Shaping Up As
Calipari's Third Consecution #1 Recruiting Class
In 3 Years at UK
:
Michael Gilchrist-Consensus Top 5
Anthony Davis-Consensus Top 5
Marquis Teague-Consensus Top 10
Kyle Wiltjer-Consensus Top 25

 

2010 Recruiting Class
Calipari's Second Consecutive #1 Class:

Brandon Knight
Terrence Jones
Doron Lamb
Enes Kanter [Never Permitted To Play by NCAA Edict]
Stacey Poole
Eloy Vargas-JUCO

 

Five Kentucky Players Drafted in NBA First Round!!!!
First Time Ever
John Wall #1-Washington
DeMarcus Cousins #5-Sacramento
Patrick Patterson #14-Houston
Eric Bledsoe #18-Oklahoma City
Daniel Orton #29-Orlando

Who will be Taken From the 2010-11 Cats'?

 

Sam Bowie Speaks About UK Basketball
Coach Calipari

 

Coach Calipari's First Year at UK Is Now History
35-3; 14-2; 6-1 Post Season
SEC Regular Season and Tournament Champions
NCAA Elite 8 Appearance
5 Underclassmen Make Early Move to NBA
One Junior and Four Freshment
Relive The Entire 2009-10 Season at this LINK

 

ESPN'S Jeannine Edwards Talks About Coach Calipari

 

 

Coach Calipari Delivers His
State of the Program Address
At Big Blue Madness, October 16, 2009
Hear It Here!!!!

Coach Answers Your Questions!
By: David Scott (September 03, 2009)

 

Coach Calipari with former UK greats , Dale Barnstable, Larry Pursiful, Billy Evans, Louie Dampier, and Mike Pratt

 

Coach Calipari Launches New Website

Charter Membership Certificate

One Feature at CoachCal.com identifies All Wildcats Currently Playing in the NBA

Derek Anderson  - Charlotte Bobcats

Kelenna Azubuike  - Golden State Warriors

Keith Bogans  - Milwaukee Bucks

Joe Crawford  - New York Knicks

Chuck Hayes  - Houston Rockets

Jamaal Magloire  - Miami Heat

Jodie Meeks - Milwaukee Bucks

Nazr Mohammed - Charlotte Bobcats

Randolph Morris  - Atlanta Hawks

Tayshaun Prince  - Detroit Pistons

Rajon Rondo  - Boston Celtics

Class of 2010 - Who do you think?

 

Coach Calipari Has Friends In High Place

LaBron James Visiting the UK Campus

7 year old Wilson Hampton smiling with LeBron inside the Craft Center

LaBron James Shooting at the Craft Center

A Long Way From Moon to Kentucky

 

In May 2009, Coach Calipari Endorsed the Idea of Holdng 2009 Big Blue Madness

In Commonwealth Stadium

MAKE IT HAPPEN!!!!!

 

 

Mon May 11, 2009 11:23 am EDT

Kentucky is going to be very good at basketball this year

By Eamonn Brennan

The College Basketball World has already felt the initial shock waves that Kentucky's hiring of John Calipari created. Their seismographs have registered the quake that has caused the under water hidden landscape to shift along a major fault line. These guys are now standing on their highest ground looking out to sea to see how high the tidal wave will be when it inundates their shores.

 

 

 

Calipari Press Conference Audio for April 15, 2009

 

 

Take a look at the UKAA 90 Second Promotional Video called "The Beginning of the Calipari Era" here.

 

Press Conference Video

 

Cal will embrace all aspects of UK job

By Andy Katz
ESPN.com

 

 

 

On March 31, 2009, Univeristy of Kentucky Hired John Calipari To be Head Basketball Coach

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SugarHill Communiations of Kentucky
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