PITTSBURGH — John Calipari still has strong ties to his working-class roots.
Even after almost 40 years since Calipari permanently left western Pennsylvania to start a successful coaching career, he remains true to the lessons learned while growing up in Moon Township.
“You were taught, there’s nothing in this world that’s going to be given to you,” the longtime Kentucky coach said Wednesday. “You have to go take what you want, and if you don’t work, you will not eat.”
The inner drive remains, even at 65 years old. Calipari insists that the determination that has made him a successful winner wherever he has been is still alive.
The challenge nowadays is to pass on that mindset to a group of talented college students who train in top-notch facilities and have various name, image and likeness opportunities, with some of them using Kentucky as a stepping stone to the NBA.
Calipari is confident that the third-seeded Wildcats (23-9), who begin the first-round on Thursday against 14th-seeded Oakland (23-11), possess the necessary work ethic for the upcoming three weeks. Additionally, he believes the team has the required depth.
Seven different Wildcats have scored over 25 points this season, giving Calipari a crucial motivational tool as a coach: choices.
“For a couple years, if one or two players played poorly, I didn’t have subs, you left them in and you end up losing,” Calipari said. “And I’m not just talking the NCAA tournament. Other games. With this group, if these two or three are not playing well, I’ll just play these five or six, and we’ll run with them.”
Perhaps, but this has also resulted in a highly inconsistent season for Kentucky, where they can appear to be one of the most outstanding teams in the country on one night and then defensively weak in the next.
A period in the middle of the season, during which the Wildcats lost five out of nine games, was followed by a five-game winning streak including a significant win over Alabama and an away victory at Tennessee.
However, the momentum slowed down in the SEC tournament, with Texas A&M shocking Kentucky in the quarterfinals.
Calipari’s response: he took his players bowling.
“We split them up and let them compete and laugh and eat,” Calipari said. “Now let’s regroup and get back after it.”
It’s been nine years since Kentucky reached a Final Four and 12 years since they won the NCAA tournament, which feels like a lifetime for a program where success is only judged by the end of the season.
The second-highest paid coach in the country is well aware of this and is trying his best to relieve the pressure from his players.
“My job right now is to just, one: every year, make sure they’re playing their best basketball in March,” Calipari said. “Second thing is take it off them, take it on your own shoulders. Let them be young players and let them play and have fun.”
Perhaps, but in some ways, that pressure is also a privilege. This is one of the reasons why freshman guard Reed Sheppard always wanted to play for the Wildcats. Being the son of Jeff Sheppard — who won a national title at Kentucky in 1998 — and Stacey Sheppard — one of the school’s all-time leading scorers — he is well-versed in the expectations that come with playing for his parents’ alma mater.
"We are aware that we are a prime target," Sheppard stated. He has an average of 14.2 points as a substitute. "What's remarkable about this team and about being at Kentucky is that it's expected. We really need to stick together and remain united as a team."
This bond has been beneficial for Oakland as they secured both the Horizon League regular season and tournament titles, marking their return to the NCAAs for the first time since 2011.
Greg Kampe, wrapping up his 40th year at Oakland, understands how these situations unfold. If the Grizzlies can keep the game tight, everyone in PPG Paints Arena not supporting the Blue team will find themselves rooting for the team led by the coach with the longest tenure in Division I.
"If we perform well tomorrow night — and we are capable, I'm telling you, we are capable — and it becomes a close game, I have to believe that despite the huge Big Blue Nation presence, many people here will prefer to see Oakland play in the next round rather than Kentucky," Kampe said. "So if we can do our part, we'll witness a similar scenario as 12 years ago."
