Whether you think John Calipari puts too much of an emphasis on getting players to the NBA or not, it is still pretty fascinating to think that he has now had a player play for all 30 NBA teams during his 10 years at UK.
Calipari insisted he didn’t even know that when a media member told him that recently.
“I just know a lot of players get drafted. I said to somebody, ‘How does anybody beat us on kids?’ I have no idea. What are they saying or doing? I don’t know, but we do get beat more that we get kids,” Calipari said.
Getting beat for players frustrates UK fans as much or more as it does Calipari
“I mean, we like to say that it’s not for everybody,” Calipari said. “This is about coming to practice knowing that NBA scouts are in that gym at that practice because they want to see the competitiveness right there in our own team.
“It’s a different deal when you go, and I want to be the only guy and want to shoot all the balls and want to be the center of attention. It’s just different here.”
Calipari seems convinced already that next season might be different with the way he’s feeling about his team. He tweeted that he loved freshman Kahlil Whitney’s “competitiveness and his confidence. He’s wanted the challenge of this place for a long time.”
But that wasn’t all he shared on social media about his team.
“This is truly a positionless team with length. We’re only just beginning this journey and I’m liking what I’m seeing,” Calipari tweeted. “This is what I enjoy most — having a great workout with a group of players who wanted this culture, wanted to be challenged, wanted to be made uncomfortable. They all have big dreams and aspirations and wanted to be in an environment with other good players.”
Calipari even threw in some thoughts from former coach Joe B. Hall after Hall attended a recent practice.
“My mentor and friend, Coach Hall, likes our new team,” Calipari posted on Twitter. “He loves that we made a bunch of jump shots. He said this could be our best shooting team. Said we made our first nine shots when we scrimmaged.”