The State of Kentucky Basketball - Perspective of a Former Coach

Kentucky Basketball is a really big, and important, part of my life. I’ve been lucky enough to write for Kentucky Sports Radio, first as an intern from 2013-2014, and now in a more consistent capacity since 2019. Long before writing for KSR I was an avid listener and reader. Prior to that, I was a fan like everyone else. However, my membership within Big Blue Nation is admittedly different than many others. This is my story along with my current thoughts on where the Kentucky Basketball program, and Coach Calipari specifically, stands.

Born and Bred Hoosier

Don’t stop reading, but I was born an Indiana fan. Both of my parents attended Indiana University and were students for the Hoosiers last championship in 1987. Things changed though on September 10^th, 2000 when Coach Bob Knight was fired. My family essentially severed ties with IU, and I was given the opportunity to be “fan free agent” at the impressionable age of eight. Pretty quickly, my sights turned to the Bluegrass and I was hooked on Kentucky Basketball.

I can vaguely remember watching Tayshaun Prince play as a senior, but the memories really begin with Keith Bogans, Gerald Fitch, Chuck Hayes, and Kelenna Azubuike in 2003. There definitely are memories of losing to Dwayne Wade in the Elite Eight. Then, I can remember the disappointment of losing to UAB in the second round of the 2004 NCAA Tournament. Finally, the “crazy fandom” set in as Patrick Sparks’ shot hung on the rim against Michigan State in the 2005 Elite Eight. At that point, I bled blue.

Fast forward to the Coach John Calipari era and I was fully in my crazy fandom stage. I remember being at Big Blue Madness for Coach Cal’s iconic speech and knowing we were in for something special. Then, I was in attendance for the Kentucky versus Louisville game that year which, to this day, is probably the best Rupp Arena atmosphere I’ve experienced. In college, I had a little black folding stool I would superstitiously sit on for every game including the 2012 National Championship. There were no fraternity parties or watching games at a bar with my friends. It was in my room, by myself, on my lucky stool.

From Crazy Fan to Coach

In the spring of 2014, I graduated from Hanover College and began my career in coaching landing an assistant job at Defiance College. Obviously, this was the same season in which Kentucky went 38-0 before losing to Wisconsin in the Final Four. Early on, I was still incredibly invested. I would frantically check the score while out recruiting or on the bus ride home from our own games. At some point along the way our head coach, my boss, told me that I would never be a real coach if I continued to care this much about Kentucky. At the time, I laughed it off and thought that I would be different. After all, I was a Kentucky fan long before I became a coach at Defiance College. However, as the season went along, I cared a lot less about the Wildcats and a lot more about the Yellow Jackets.

We ended up going to the Division III national tournament that season and beat defending national champion Wisconsin-Whitewater in the first round. It was the best team in the history of Defiance College and there I was, a 23-year-old assistant, already being a part of a team that won a game in the NCAA Tournament. However, once our season ended, it was time to lock into the ‘Cats. With the Final Four in Indianapolis, our staff attended all of the coaching clinics, happy hours, and other fun activities that college coaching staffs from all around the country take part in each year. I, of course, broke off from the group to attend the Kentucky versus Wisconsin game with my parents.

After watching that heartbreaking loss, I returned to the hotel lobby bar where our group was joined by none other than Coach Bruce Pearl. After plenty of good-natured ribbing from coaches at all levels about my beloved Wildcats losing, I had to call it a night. I still had too much “crazy fan” inside of me to listen to other coaches take pleasure in Kentucky’s loss.

That is a long-winded way of saying that things started to change for me around that point. Not because Kentucky lost and I missed the opportunity to watch college basketball history in person. Instead, things changed because my life became much more singularly focused on my team. As I matured, got older, and became a better coach I had less time for watching Kentucky. My time was dedicated to our guys, our opponents, and recruiting. With that, over five seasons of full-time coaching, I still cheered for Kentucky, followed the games, etc., but it simply wasn’t as important.

Return to the Real-World

In the summer of 2019, I left the coaching world and got a “normal job” for the first time in my life. Almost immediately, I texted Tyler Thompson and asked if I could return to writing. I’m eternally grateful she said yes. However, maybe I should be let go because it hasn’t been pretty for Kentucky Basketball since. That first season was successful and a lot fun but culminated in the SEC and NCAA Tournaments being cancelled. Then, the Wildcats went 9-16. Saint Peter’s, Kansas State, and Oakland all were to follow. We all know the story. These four years have not been up to standard. That is where we get to my current thoughts on Kentucky Basketball.

During that 9-16 season I could feel how my fandom had changed. I took on the personality of Coach Calipari in a lot of ways, specifically as it pertained to the Dontaie Allen situation. Kentucky winning the games, which they didn’t do much of, was still priority number one, but “showing” the fans that it could be done without their favorite son was something that was in my mind far too much. It was that recent coaching background that triggered a “I know better than you” approach. I’ve gotten better about that, but I freely admit it still creeps in at times. Whether it is clapping back on Twitter, a passive-aggressive remark in an article, or a snarky KSBoard post, I’m still not fully above letting that toxic thought process creep over me. Forgive me. I promise I mean well and just want us to win the games!

While some will never understand it, and that is fine, I can understand why Coach Calipari is the way that he is. It is frustrating when you have people who have never done your job tell you how to do your job. He gets paid a lot of money to deal with it, but he is also human.

Coach Calipari has said throughout his career that Kentucky isn’t for everyone. Kentucky is also a place with extraordinarily high expectations. There certainly are times where those expectations are unrealistic. However, these last four seasons haven’t lived up to anyone’s expectations of this program. 80-46 overall and 47-24 in the Southeastern Conference doesn’t seem too bad on paper. In Lexington though, it is all about March. That is where Coach Calipari and the Wildcats have completely failed of late. One SEC Tournament win and one NCAA Tournament win just doesn’t cut it. That gets magnified even more when losses came to #15-seed Saint Peter’s and #14-seed Oakland. Those are embarrassing losses that paint Kentucky in a negative light nationally for an entire news cycle.

I’ve never bought into the “this is Kentucky” line of thinking, because ultimately wearing Kentucky across your chest doesn’t entitle you to winning basketball games. However, it is true that expectations are different here and those expectations don’t include two first round exists to low-major programs in a three year span.

Where Things Stand Today

It is safe to say that the current ends haven’t justified the means. The relationship between Coach Calipari and Big Blue Nation has become untenable. Most importantly though, the product on the floor isn’t what we expect. Kentucky isn’t a place where you want to make a change for the sake of change, but there are a lot of coaches who could have replicated the last four seasons. However, you don’t make a change in order to replicate the results, you make a change to improve on them. There likely aren’t many options that would immediately raise the level and at least one or two of those wouldn’t be considered for other various reasons.

The day will come eventually when Coach Calipari is no longer at Kentucky, and it will create a total rebuild from ground zero. With the transfer portal though you can make that rebuild happen faster, and more effectively, than ever before. Again, you don’t keep him because the rebuild will be tough, but you also shouldn’t make a change unless you are extremely comfortable with the replacement. In many ways, you need to KNOW the replacement before you actually make a change.

For the first time ever, I’m on board with whatever decision needs to be made. I’m not going to scream from the mountains that we have to trust in Coach Calipari and that he is the man for the job. If the decision is to keep him for another season, then there will be nobody that supports him more than me. However, if a change is made, I’ll fully support that as well. For a long time, Coach Calipari’s way worked better than everyone else’s way. Times have changed though and that is no longer the case. He either has to be the one that changes, or Kentucky must change without him. The ball is no longer in his court.

What Does All of This Mean?

I’m not a “capital J” journalist like some of my friends and colleges here at Kentucky Sports Radio. While I spend countless hours breaking down film for scouting reports and “watch the tape” segments, this isn’t what I do for a living. There are times where I envy the opportunities and access my co-workers have, but for the most part I like things the way they are.

I don’t ever “have” to react in the moment. I’ll never be the one in the post game press conference asking the hard questions. That just isn’t me. I’m for too biased as a fan to ever be a truly good journalist for Kentucky Basketball. However, I do feel like my perspective as a former coach is valuable. Being able to breakdown film and talk X’s and O’s provides a in-depth niche that not everyone can produce. I love having the opportunity to fill that role and hope to do so for a long time.

When Kentucky lost on Thursday night I put out my normal end-of-season tweet about how no good thoughts or takes are expressed in the immediate hours following a loss. Again, my colleagues have a job to do and they do it incredibly well. Luckily for me, I had the luxury of actually living my words and not really diving into my thoughts publicly for 72 hours. However, here we are. It is time to have the tough conversations.

We have reached a crossroads where four years of data says that things are not working. Running it back for one more try isn’t acceptable anymore. That doesn’t necessarily mean that a coaching change is required. What it does mean though is, at the very least, Coach Calipari must change. We need “old-school Coach Calipari.” We need to not be handcuffed to under-performing freshmen. Most importantly, we need success in the month of March. The easiest path towards that might be to make a change at the top. If that is what is deemed best, then for the first time ever I will not only understand, but support the decision. However, if 65-year-old John Calipari can be the change himself I will support that too. Recent history would indicate that isn’t happening though.

Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart is in an unenviable situation. Some of it is his own doing by giving Coach Calipari a lifetime contract with a massive buyout. We might already have a decision if there weren’t $33 million reasons to keep him around. However, it is also relatively unprecedented to fire a coach with this level of history and success. College athletics is a cutthroat, what have you done lately for me business though. That is why the coaches are millionaires.

As we sit here watching the rest of March Madness without the Kentucky Wildcats one thing is for certain. Next season, things have to be different. Whether or not that includes a new face of the program will likely play out in the next few days. Change is on the horizon though in one way or another. Go ‘Cats.