John Calipari's recruiting visit with Immanuel Quickley released to public
Ever wondered what it’d be like to look John Calipari in the eye as he performs his recruiting pitch? Well, thanks to some footage that’s recently emerged from several years ago, you can do just that.
Twitter user Tristan Pharis recently dug up a clip from a documentary on Immanuel Quickley that shows part of Calipari’s actual pitch to him in his living room back in 2017. It’s the stuff of legend and we all get to watch it happen.
So take a look below at Kentucky head coach John Calipari pitching the ‘Cats to a player and person that wound up as one of the most beloved players he ever coached in Lexington:
(You can also read the entire discussion below)
Here is what Calipari said to a young Immanuel Quickley and his family way back in 2017 as he sat in his living room and pitched him on the University of Kentucky.
“Lifetime scholarship. Our kids go to class. The kids I’m recruiting, most of them have a 4-5 year window. Your academic window is fifty years. Your basketball window is 4-5 years. Now, you may say ‘what’s 4-5 years?’ Within that window, you gotta do your college thing, get drafted and establish who you are, because this first contract — it’s the second one,” he noted, since those tend to be the much bigger deals for NBA player.
“And that’s why my guys go into the league and get the second contracts. And it’s all the stuff guys can’t argue. My staff all get mad when people are negative or say stuff or make us stories or just lie, okay. I’m like… what do you want them to do? If it’s facts, they lose. If it’s the truth, they lose. They know — with what’s happened for our kids and how I coach and what’s happened for their kids and how they coach — they can’t beat us.
“And that’s why I tell them: you guys are getting all nutty and crazy. I don’t care what they say. Because, at the end of the day, this should be a business decision for you and you guys as a family should be like, ‘okay, what kind of coach do we want him to play for? What do we want that coach to stand for?”
Quickley responded to that question: “Just work on your game every day.” Calipari then asked IQ: “How are you going to elevate to be your best version?” To which Quickley responded: “Just work on your weaknesses, what you’re not good at, and develop it into a strength.”
Calipari jumped back in, breaking down the difference being at Kentucky makes on a daily basis.
“I’m gonna say this in a general sense: you pick a school and they tell you you’re the face of the team, you’re gonna be the centerpiece, the guy, letting you do all this. And then you start practicing and you’re by far the best player. So now you’ve got 30ish games. 20 of those are against bad teams — just how it is. The other 10 are against good teams and of those 10 they got eight players who can compete with you at the level you play. So that means, eight times a year, you’re really in a competitive environment, for you personally.
“Unless you come with me. Now you’re gonna be there 200 days, because every practice I’m gonna have 6-7 guys just like you. And every day, you’re going to have to come and bring it. Now that is how our guys get better,” Cal declared with a swaggy point of his finger. “Together, they just make each other better.”
Gosh, that’s an awesome sneak peek into a real Calipari recruiting pitch. And guess what? Immanuel Quickley came to Kentucky, sort of struggled as a freshman but burst into stardom as a sophomore, got drafted in the first round and within three years finished second in Sixth Man of the Year voting.
That second contract and the mega millions are coming for Immanuel Quickley, just as Calipari laid out in his living room during his junior year of high school roughly six years ago.