John Calipari calls Ed Cooley 'terrific'

John Calipari has nothing but respect for Ed Cooley. The two coaches have crossed paths a few times throughout their careers, including in 1994 and 1995 when Calipari coached at UMass and Cooley was an assistant at nearby Division III UMass-Dartmouth.

Now they will meet again with Calipari’s Kentucky Wildcats set to face Cooley and Providence in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday. In a media appearance shortly after the Selection Sunday announcement, Calipari had plenty of kind words for Cooley.

“Ed and I have known each other,” he said. “We were assistants — well, I may be a little bit older than him — but he was an assistant as I was moving through the ranks at UMass. Coach of the Year a year ago. Is a great coach. Great communicator. Motivator. He’s terrific.”

CLICK HERE to WIN March Madness Prizes in On3’s Bracket Challenge

Cooley has been with the Friars since 2011, leading them to a 242-152 record and seven NCAA Tournament in that span. As Calipari said, he claimed Coach of the Year in 2021-22 after Providence finished 27-6 and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen before losing to eventual champion Kansas.

John Calipari and Ed Cooley have faced each other three times throughout their head coaching careers, with Calipari owning a 3-0 record in those games. The most recent matchup between the two came in 2014 when Kentucky handed Providence a 58-38 loss.

The sixth-seeded Wildcats are coming off of an upset loss to Vanderbilt in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals and will hope to avoid an early NCAA Tournament exit as well. Tip off for the contest is set for 7:10 p.m. ET on Friday.

In addition to Ed Cooley, John Calipari and Kentucky will also see a familiar face against Providence in former Wildcat forward Bryce Hopkins.

John Calipari says Kentucky smiled at chance to Bryce Hopkins

Well…This could get awkward. After Friday night’s loss in the SEC Tournament, many Kentucky faithful were happy to just move on from it and get to the NCAA Tournament. However, the committee gave them a big storyline to deal with instead as the No. 6 seeded Wildcats were matched up with the No. 11 seeded Providence Friars and, in turn, former UK player Bryce Hopkins, who has blossomed into a star in Rhode Island.

Still, John Calipari says he and his team have nothing but love for Hopkins as a former teammate and friend. He credited the UK transfer for his breakout this season and said the current Wildcats were excited about the opportunity to cross paths with him again.

“Bryce is such a great kid and he’s a terrific basketball player. And he had an unbelievable year for them. So the guys smiled,” Calipari said. “The guys all know him, we all like him. It’s a player out there that we enjoyed being around. He is a wonderful person and so is his family.”

Hopkins averaged just over six minutes per game during 28 games played at Kentucky as a freshman. In that limited time, the former four-star out of Oak Park, Illinois averaged just 2.1 points and 1.4 rebounds. Considering his limited role, he elected to not wait his turn any longer in Lexington and committed to play for Ed Cooley out of the transfer portal.

From there, it’s been nothing but upside for Hopkins. In 32 appearances at Providence this season, he averaged 16.1 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 2.3 assists on 45.7% shooting from the field and 37.8% shooting from three in just under 35 minutes per game. That production earned him a spot on the All-Big East First Team.