I didn't know Cal was Naismith COY when we hired him......

[KMKAT]

I truly don't think any other coach named COY would leave their setup and revive our program.

So appreciative for Cal to do that at that time in his career....he had it going at Memphis.

 

[W2R]

What sad is he hasn't won one at UK. What he has done at UK has been remarkable. 2009-10 season. Took a nit team from season before to elite 8

2010-11 loses most of his roster. And takes them to a final four

2011-12 takes a bunch of freshman to a title

 

[Joneslab]

Seems like Memphis had lost much of the team that went to the national title game. Rose. Douglas-Roberts. Dorsey.

Nobody had Memphis doing much of anything the following year, but of course they added Tyreke Evans. Also had Taggart and a couple of other guys. They were the best defensive team in the country that year and fell to Mike Anderson's Missouri team in the Sweet 16, IIRC.

Cal has had some good runs with teams that nobody paid much attention to. That Memphis team, the post-Kanter UK team--this is why when people say he only rolls the balls out, I have to roll my eyes.

 

[W2R]

Originally posted by JasonSpear:

Originally posted by W2R:
What sad is he hasn't won one at UK. What he has done at UK has been remarkable. 2009-10 season. Took a nit team from season before to elite 8

2010-11 loses most of his roster. And takes them to a final four

2011-12 takes a bunch of freshman to a title

the 2nd and 3rd points are true, but I wouldn't give ya the first one. That 2009-10 team was nowhere near the same roster that went to the NIT the year before (obviously), which may be even more impressive a feat that he could put a team together that quick and get results.

That's my point jason. His recruiting and rebuilding was immediate. Everyone can say he had a loaded roster. But he built that roster! Look at the calipari video pinned at the top of the page. The talking heads said it would take him a few years to right the ship. But when he did it overnight they didn't give him credit. It's like a double edge sword. Recruiting is part of coaching and when the recruits are too,notch freshman and you mold,them into a great team you should get credit for it. Donavan is finding out how hard it is to lose a bunch of players and start over. It's not that easy even with talent

 

[throatpoker]

Originally posted by KMKAT:
I truly don't think any other coach named COY would leave their setup and revive our program.

well it helps that he's had a raging boner for UK since the late 90's. and to think, it only took him 14 years to get on our level. pretty impressive.

 

[doneitall]

Originally posted by KMKAT:
I truly don't think any other coach named COY would leave their setup and revive our program.

So appreciative for Cal to do that at that time in his career....he had it going at Memphis.

We were very fortunate for Cal's decision to come to UK.

 

[LowCountryCat]

Originally posted by W2R:

Originally posted by JasonSpear:

Originally posted by W2R:
What sad is he hasn't won one at UK. What he has done at UK has been remarkable. 2009-10 season. Took a nit team from season before to elite 8

2010-11 loses most of his roster. And takes them to a final four

2011-12 takes a bunch of freshman to a title

the 2nd and 3rd points are true, but I wouldn't give ya the first one. That 2009-10 team was nowhere near the same roster that went to the NIT the year before (obviously), which may be even more impressive a feat that he could put a team together that quick and get results.

That's my point jason. His recruiting and rebuilding was immediate. Everyone can say he had a loaded roster. But he built that roster! Look at the calipari video pinned at the top of the page. The talking heads said it would take him a few years to right the ship. But when he did it overnight they didn't give him credit. It's like a double edge sword. Recruiting is part of coaching and when the recruits are too,notch freshman and you mold,them into a great team you should get credit for it. Donavan is finding out how hard it is to lose a bunch of players and start over. It's not that easy even with talent

W2R has the best of this argument. It's a well known fact that people expect rebuilding to take time. Cal didn't need time. He rebuilt immediately. In fact, he took ANOTHER NIT team all the way to the title game two years after that. Recruiting has a more immediate impact in basketball than it does in football, but even so, look at all the teams that have had high recruiting classes and gone nowhere - St. Johns, Memphis right after Cal left, Kansas, etc.