I was a Cal supporter until the very end. My tipping point, maybe surprising to some, was Adou Theiro entering the transfer portal. If we can't keep kids around at the University of Kentucky that should be, there's a problem in the system. Cal built a system that was sustainable and effective in the beginning, with some caveat. It was no longer sustainable, and no longer effective. At some point, Calipari got to a place where he was using the University of Kentucky to exalt himself and couldn't care less about Kentucky and the fans. In many ways, the players that were part of the cog took on Calipari's mindset (see DeMarcus Cousins). In the beginning, Kentucky benefitted, so I/we were good with it. I loved much of the last fifteen years because we were the conversation in college basketball, winning or losing, for better or worse. From 1998-2009, Kentucky was only taken seriously through a few seasons, and we were not the team that dominated the national conversation. John Calipari changed that, and in 2009 we were immediately the talk of the nation. From the beginning, I felt like players were coming to Kentucky because of John Calipari and not because of Kentucky. I liked it because it kept us in the national conversation, but I hated it because it always felt like it was about John Calipari and not Kentucky. It always felt like the day Calipari left, Kentucky would forfeit its place on top of the national conversation. The timing of this, I think, changes that. We are Kentucky. We will have money to build rosters. We have a coach that has the potential to win, a lot. We will have consistency and continuity for the first time in fifteen years, which is what killed us year after year (with the exception of 2012/2015/2018) for the last fifteen years. You have to have continuity and consistency to win big in college basketball. Calipari was not going to create a culture of consistency, and it was time for him to go.
Listening to Barnhart talk on KSR this morning was revealing, although subtle. Calipari was about a different brand than Kentucky basketball. He was more concerned about his way of doing things for John Calipari, and the one and done players to a lesser degree, than about advancing boosting the Kentucky brand. I think he thought that keeping Kentucky in the national conversation was the same as advancing our brand, but we became a team content with losing, so long as we were stealing headlines.
His exit from Kentucky is the perfect example of this. He says they tried to keep his move under wraps until after the national championship game in order to let the players from UCONN and Purdue have their moment. I don't believe it for a second. He stole the spotlight from those two teams and brought it on himself at the precise time of his choosing. Everything he does to raise himself up is calculated. The hardest part is that he has an out for his self-aggrandizement in that he helps all those kids achieve their dreams. Being about the kids was, in reality, second-tier to his self-promotion; it was a cover. Does this mean that I can't enjoy what Cal did at the University of Kentucky and all the names that are now associated with our program as a result? Absolutely not! I love the fact that John Wall, Anthony Davis, Devin Booker, Shai Gilgeous Alexander, Oscar Tshiebwe, etc. are in the same breath as the University of Kentucky. The problem is, Calipari made us believe that we couldn't be the University of Kentucky without John Calipari. Mitch saw it too late. Others saw it. Many on this board saw it even earlier. I just wanted to win basketball games, and I thought Calipari was the coach that could get that done (at least through 2022). I had a hard time seeing us continuing to maintain a place in the national conversation apart from what Calipari was doing.
Maybe we have a drop-off in the conversation with Coach Pope. If so, at least we have a drop-off where Kentucky basketball is respected for its tradition and excellence rather than for the number of players we put in the NBA. If "K-E-N-T-U-C-K-Y" across the front of the jersey is worn with the pride it deserves by the players who earn the right, I will not care how many NBA all-stars have "College: Kentucky" in their bio line in the next fifteen years.
I'm excited about Kentucky moving on because we get to show the world we're Kentucky without Calipari.
Listening to Barnhart talk on KSR this morning was revealing, although subtle. Calipari was about a different brand than Kentucky basketball. He was more concerned about his way of doing things for John Calipari, and the one and done players to a lesser degree, than about advancing boosting the Kentucky brand. I think he thought that keeping Kentucky in the national conversation was the same as advancing our brand, but we became a team content with losing, so long as we were stealing headlines.
His exit from Kentucky is the perfect example of this. He says they tried to keep his move under wraps until after the national championship game in order to let the players from UCONN and Purdue have their moment. I don't believe it for a second. He stole the spotlight from those two teams and brought it on himself at the precise time of his choosing. Everything he does to raise himself up is calculated. The hardest part is that he has an out for his self-aggrandizement in that he helps all those kids achieve their dreams. Being about the kids was, in reality, second-tier to his self-promotion; it was a cover. Does this mean that I can't enjoy what Cal did at the University of Kentucky and all the names that are now associated with our program as a result? Absolutely not! I love the fact that John Wall, Anthony Davis, Devin Booker, Shai Gilgeous Alexander, Oscar Tshiebwe, etc. are in the same breath as the University of Kentucky. The problem is, Calipari made us believe that we couldn't be the University of Kentucky without John Calipari. Mitch saw it too late. Others saw it. Many on this board saw it even earlier. I just wanted to win basketball games, and I thought Calipari was the coach that could get that done (at least through 2022). I had a hard time seeing us continuing to maintain a place in the national conversation apart from what Calipari was doing.
Maybe we have a drop-off in the conversation with Coach Pope. If so, at least we have a drop-off where Kentucky basketball is respected for its tradition and excellence rather than for the number of players we put in the NBA. If "K-E-N-T-U-C-K-Y" across the front of the jersey is worn with the pride it deserves by the players who earn the right, I will not care how many NBA all-stars have "College: Kentucky" in their bio line in the next fifteen years.
I'm excited about Kentucky moving on because we get to show the world we're Kentucky without Calipari.
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