John Calipari open to secret scrimmages vs. high-major programs

In recent years, “secret scrimmages” between high-major programs have added some much-needed spice to the college basketball preseason. On Friday, Tennessee beat Gonzaga by 19 in Texas, a game that was only on pay-per-view with proceeds going to the McLendon Foundation. The next day, Houston knocked off Duke by 11 behind closed doors and Texas beat Arkansas by 30 in a charity exhibition in Austin.

NCAA rules allow Division I teams to play either two exhibitions against Division II schools; one exhibition vs. a Division II school and a closed-door scrimmage vs. a Division I school; or two closed-door scrimmages and no exhibitions. Kentucky has always gone the first route, hosting two Division II schools in Rupp prior to the start of the regular season. Following last night’s win over Missouri Western State, John Calipari said he’s open to secret scrimmages against high-major Division I programs, but pointed out it would come at the expense of the revenue generated by a home game at Rupp.

“Yeah, we’re all reading, and we had talked about it more, and again, administrative decision because obviously a closed scrimmage where you can get work against another high-level Division I program helps you, but I understand it here because financially it’s a big deal to play two games. It just is.

“That money goes to other sports, so now you start taking that money away that will go to other sports. We played the Blue-White in Pikeville. That was a big deal because we need this program — it’s for all the other programs. I get it.”

That said, Calipari believes it could be worth it, especially after talking to Bill Self about Kansas’ secret scrimmage vs. Illinois at the Kane Brown Charity Concert the two co-hosted in Cincinnati on Friday.

“I think we’re going to have to address it now because it’s become so prevalent. But yeah, we have to address it. Now it’s probably at that point where, yeah, we’ve got to do like everybody else and play a scrimmage and figure out who it is and close the doors down and let’s go. I was just with Bill Self in Cincy, and they played Illinois, talking about how they played.”

On Thursday, Kentucky will host Kentucky State in its second exhibition. In years past, the Thorobreds, Kentucky Wesleyan, Georgetown College, and Transylvania have all played exhibitions in Rupp, which is always a cool moment. Maybe the solution moving forward is one secret scrimmage and one exhibition game vs. an in-state Division II foe.

“Now, I will say, this game was good for us,” Cal said of the Missouri Western game. “It was. Now, the one thing I like about playing these games is taking care of some Division II people. Like playing Kentucky State, that’s a big deal for them. So I like doing those things. But I also like this program probably more than doing that, so that needs to be addressed. We will.”

Who would you like to see the Cats face in a secret scrimmage?