If there’s such a thing as Zen recruiting, John Calipari is the master of it.
Coach Cal has a way of showing up in the right places and knowing the right people. Even when he’s not phoning a high school kid or visiting a prep school game, he’s putting forth the image of a winner, and someone who is ineffably cool. He somehow manages to radiate street cred despite being a 53-year-old man with slicked-back hair.
Nobody has embraced the internet as a recruiting tool like Calipari has. Just this week, he casually tweeted a photo of himself backstage at a Jay-Z concert, with the headliner — bathed in the spotlight — just over his left shoulder. He threw in an image of him alongside Nets coach Avery Bradley and another with Magic Johnson.
Well played, sir. Well played.
He even made light of his checkered history with the hip-hop mogul in another tweet, as reported by Kentucky.com:
“I told Jay-Z that I might get fined $50k for being in HIS locker room tonight. He said “I got you”. #Lafamilia”
With that tweet, Calipari is referencing the $50,000 that the NBA fined Jay-Z for meeting with UK’s players in the Nets locker room in Newark after the Cats clinched a berth to the Final Four two years ago.
That meeting and subsequent fine spawned the opening lyric to one of the most popular songs on Jay-Z and Kanye West’s Watch the Throne album a year later.
It’s actually rather amazing how Cal does it. As intentionally public as it is, it never feels forced. Very few other coaches have managed to come even close to his mastery of internet cool. That’s why everyone else is still, well, watching his throne.
(photo from @UKCoachCalipari)
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John Calipari named honorary pace car driver for June 29 race at Kentucky Speedway
Jun 19, 2013, 5:20 PM EDT
Kentucky Speedway
Kentucky Speedway announced on Wednesday that Kentucky head coach John Calipari has been named the honorary pace car driver for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Quaker State 400, which takes place on June 29. In the release, Speedway general manager Mark Simendinger proclaimed the opening lap to be “one of the quickest fast breaks in…
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West Coast Conference announces changes to tournament format
Jun 19, 2013, 3:56 PM EDT
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With the addition of Pacific, the West Coast Conference will have ten members beginning with the 2013-14 campaign. The arrival of the Tigers not only helps from a scheduling standpoint, but it also necessitated a change in the format the WCC uses for its conference tournament. The WCC announced the changes on Wednesday, with seeds…
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Tyus Jones on college with Jahlil Okafor, Justise Winslow: ‘We all like the idea’
Jun 19, 2013, 3:35 PM EDT
It’s no secret that Tyus Jones and Jahlil Okafor want to play their college ball together. They’ve been talking about it for a while, and given the fact that they are both ranked in the top three for Rivals Class of 2014 — Okafor is currently No. 1 while Jones is No. 3 — I’m…
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AP
Earlier this month, Alabama forward Devonta Pollard was arrested and charged in conjunction with the kidnapping of a six-year old girl over a family land dispute. Given that he was facing a serious felony charge, one could only imagine that Pollard would only be a member of the Crimson Tide for so long, and on…
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Don’t take Michigan’s point guard spot from Spike Albrecht just yet
Jun 19, 2013, 2:30 PM EDT
Reuters
Spike Albrecht spent the majority of the college basketball season as the answer to a trivia question: Who is the little white kid that backs up Trey Burke, the best player in the country? The way the 2012-2013 campaign ended, however, was much, much different. If you’ve forgotten, the kid who was signed late by…
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Northwestern completes their coaching staff by adding Armon Gates
Jun 19, 2013, 1:06 PM EDT
Northwestern head coach Chris Collins has filled out his coaching staff, as he added Armon Gates as his third assistant coach on Tuesday. Gates is a Chicago native that spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach at Loyola (IL). “We’re very excited to add Armon to our staff,” Collins said in a statement…
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Report: Darius Cobb, Ben McLemore’s AAU coach, to speak to the NCAA today
Jun 19, 2013, 12:25 PM EDT
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Darius Cobb, Ben McLemore’s former AAU coach, will be meeting with the NCAA’s Enforcement staff today to discuss the involvement that Rodney Blackstock had with the former Kansas all-american and those close to him, according to a report from Eric Prisbell of USA Today. That could end up being a thorn in the side of…
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Communication plays vital role in development of Marquette’s Vander Blue
Jun 19, 2013, 11:30 AM EDT
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A recent growing buzzword in college basketball is the importance of the “culture” of a program. Culture within a college basketball program dictates how things work and it’s use as a word and as a concept is meant to influence players — and in some cases fans — into believing that certain activities or teachings…
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Report: Gonzaga kicks off their 2014 recruiting class with top 150 guard Silas Melson
Jun 19, 2013, 10:52 AM EDT
Mark Few picked up his first commitment in the Class of 2014 as Portland native and Rivals top 150 shooting guard Silas Melson pledged to the Zags on Tuesday night, according to a report from ESPN.com’s Jeff Goodman. Here’s how ESPN breaks down his game: He has a smooth shooting stroke out to 20-feet and…
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Michigan State needed Adreian Payne to return to school if they were going to make a run at a national title. With Derrick Nix graduating and with their only incoming front court player being Gavin Schilling — who isn’t exactly the second coming of Greg Oden — Tom Izzo’s team was going to have a…
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AP
If you aren’t familiar with Vine, it’s an app that allows users to record up to six seconds worth of video. That was plenty of time for Tennessee rising junior forward Jarnell Stokes to film Oklahoma State star sophomore guard Marcus Smart taking a sideline bounce pass and throwing down a 360 slam while the…
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Gorgui Dieng is gearing up for next Thursday for the 2013 NBA Draft. On Tuesday, following a workout with the New York Knicks, the former Louisville center had time to talk about his old team. “I think they’re going to have a better team this year,” Dieng told Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com and SNY.tv on…
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AP
A week after being cut loose by Iowa State, Indian Hills Community College forward Richard Amardi made a commitment to the Oregon Ducks. He has one year of eligibility left. Jeff Goodman first reported the news via Twitter on Tuesday night. The 6-foot-9 Amardi was on the wrong-end of a scholarship issue. He had originally committed…
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Penn State grants forward Jon Graham release, will transfer
Jun 18, 2013, 7:52 PM EDT
AP
After three years with the Penn State program, rising junior forward Jon Graham was granted a release and will be allowed to transfer for his final two seasons of eligibility, the school announced on Tuesday afternoon. “Jon and I have had several meetings to discuss his future and he has decided to seek opportunities to…
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AP
The return of Greg Whittington was going to be a crucial for the Georgetown Hoyas, entering next season without Big East Player of the Year Otto Porter. However, on Tuesday it was confirmed that Whittington has suffered a torn ACL in his left knee. “Greg will return when he is 100 percent healthy,”Georgetown head coach John…
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Harry Giles (Wesleyan Christian Academy/Winston-Salem, N.C.) was one of 12 players selected to the USA Basketball Under-16 team, playing in the FIBA World Championship in Uruguay. The 6-foot-9 2016 recruit injured his left knee on Wednesday in a win over Argentina. On Tuesday, Giles told Jason Jordan of USA Today that he torn his ACL and MCL.…
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AP
Kansas commit and consensus top high school player Andrew Wiggins decided not to play for the Canadian Under-19 team this summer at next week’s FIBA U19 World Championship in Prague, Czech Republic. That hasn’t stopped the 6-foot-7 Wiggins from impressing this summer. According to Gary Parrish of CBS Sports, sources confirmed that Wiggins participated in his first…
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#POSTERIZED: Aaron Gordon demolishes Nigel Williams-Goss (VIDEO)
Jun 18, 2013, 3:03 PM EDT
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We’ve dissected the position that Aaron Gordon will play at Arizona far too often this offseason. Maybe, instead of worrying about whether he’ll be a three or a four, we should sit back and appreciate the fact that he can do this: I mean … I just … wow. Oh, there’s a better angle, too:…
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This week is a very important week for Ed O’Bannon’s case against the NCAA
Jun 18, 2013, 2:28 PM EDT
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Ever since Ed O’Bannon first filed a lawsuit against the NCAA over the use of his likeness in a video game back in 2009, there has been scuttlebutt that the outcome of said lawsuit could end up playing a major role in the way that college athletics operates at the highest level in the near…
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One of the big names to keep an eye on in the Class of 2015 is one of the biggest players in the class: 6-foot-11 Stephen Zimmerman. A native of Las Vegas who plays his high school ball at Bishop Gorman, Zimmerman is a lanky left-hander that can score with his back to the basket,…
