"The core of who I am is caring about kids." Calipari defends himself against that dumb Yahoo! story.

(Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

Kentucky will soon travel to Auburn for a difficult challenge against the surging Tigers, a very important game to keep the postseason dreams alive. There is a lot to talk about going into Saturday’s matchup with Sharife Cooper back and averaging 27 points per game in his only two appearances, then former North Oldham star Justin Powell returning to the Auburn lineup just in time to play the program that showed him no interest in high school, and of course another clash between rivals Cal and Bruce Pearl.

But Calipari couldn’t make it through his pre-Auburn press conference without having to speak on the ridiculous Yahoo! Sports story that came out yesterday, and his defensive tweet that soon followed.

I STAND WITH, FOR AND BY MY PLAYERS. ALWAYS HAVE AND ALWAYS WILL!

— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) January 14, 2021

So is Cal himself breaking his own rule and reading the clutter now? He says no, only when it’s loud enough that someone in his circle brings it to his table.

When asked Friday afternoon he said, “The stuff of being under fire, there’s always people that are going to question (you), that’s what coaching is. It doesn’t matter what you do, there’s people that are going to say you can do it better or in a different way. You could be playing man and being one of the best defensive teams in the country and ‘you should be playing zone.’ You have a big team but ‘you should play like you have small guys’. You have a small team, ‘why don’t post it?’ If I listened to what’s coming out of the stands and I listen to it, I’ll be up there shortly. You just coach your team. When you focus on your team and you coach your team, and that’s your focus, that stuff doesn’t affect you.

“Most of the stuff I don’t see,” he continued. “You guys could say I’m under total fire and I wouldn’t know that. If there’s something I need to deal with, I’ll ask Eric (Lindsey) and TJ (Beisner) and all the guys, what’s out there? Is there something I need to deal with?”

Yesterday’s Yahoo! story fell into that category.

“The only reason I responded, and you guys know I don’t respond to any of that stuff that’s out there, but the core of who I am is caring about kids,” Cal said. “Anybody that knows me knows what I stand for, knows my beliefs, and it doesn’t matter if I’m living in California, Texas, Kentucky, Florida or Boston, my beliefs are what they are. I made the statement that I stand by these kids, I believe in these kids, and they know that. So you march on and do what you think is right. Doing what’s right is not always popular, and doing what’s popular is not always right. That’s why you gotta fall back on your faith and your belief system.”

One of those players who has Calipari’s full support is Jacob Toppin, who also spoke to the media before the team flight Friday afternoon.

Toppin also saw the story and was quick to defend his head coach.

“Coach Cal loves his players. He treats us like we’re his sons, so he’s never going to be against us, he’s always for us and he’s always supporting us, no matter what it is. That was nonsense. He’s definitely helped us through all of this, he’s definitely been there for us through all of this. He’s a great guy, he’s a great coach.”

Hear Cal’s Friday comments below.