Former UMass men's basketball coach John Calipari had his named called for induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Monday, joining an 11-member class that will be honored during Enshrinement Weekend, Sept. 10-12 of this year.
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There was extensive coverage following Wednesday's announcement that UMass would be retiring a jersey in honor of John Calipari next season as part of the 20th anniversary of the 1995-96 Final Four team. A jersey in his honor marks the 6th such honor for a member of the basketball program joining George "Trigger" Burke, Julius "Dr. J" Erving, Marcus Camby, Lou Roe and Al Skinner.
- Calipari jersey to be retired at UMass - CoachCal.com
- The College Blog » UMass plans to retire jersey in honor of John Calipari
- UMass to retire Kentucky basketball coach Calipari's jersey
- UMass to retire jersey in honor of Kentucky's Calipari | UK News, Recruiting | Kentucky.com
- UMass Is Going To Honor Cal - LEX18.com
- UMass to retire Calipari jersey
- UMass to Retire Jersey in Honor of Fmr. Coach John Calipari - WGGB.com ABC 40
- UMass to retire sixth basketball jersey in school history to honor John Calipari | NCAA.com
- UMass set to announce ceremony honoring former basketball coach John Calipari | masslive.com
- UMass to retire Calipari jersey : The Massachusetts Daily Collegian
The UMass basketball team continued to roll on Saturday with a 82-74 win over Duquesne at the Mullins Center. Trey Davis has continued his strong play, scoring 26 points for his second 20-point effort in the last four games. The Minutemen made a season-high nine 3-pointers, were dominant on the glass once again and committed a season-low nine turnovers.
The was the recipe for success to keep pace with the other three teams who all won and are in a 9-3 log jam atop the Atlantic 10 standings.
HIGHLIGHTS
Around 9:45 pm Eastern Time tonight, Kentucky and Louisville will meet in an NCAA Tournament Round of 16 game in Indianapolis. Two coaches with deep UMass ties in John Calipari and Rick Pitino will direct their respective teams in their own, unique ways. And there will be subtle nuances they gained during their time in Amherst with the Minutemen's all-time winningest men's basketball coach Jack Leaman.
Here are a few stories that have been written on the duo's associations with Jack, who compiled 217 victories from 1966-79 and spent a total of 37 years associated with the University.
March 31, 2012: 2012 Final Four foes John Calipari, Rick Pitino united by Jack Leaman | masslive.com
Spring 2004: One of the Great Ones | UMass Magazine Online
University of Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari has extended invitations to former Wildcats as well as his past players at Massachusetts and Memphis to use UK's Joe Craft Center to train during the NBA lockout if it occurs.
Calipari posted a message on his website, coachcal.com, in which he went into some depth about his philosophy on inviting former players back to campus to complete their degrees and use UK's facilities.
Calipari noted that former Cat Wayne Turner took advantage of the opportunity and received his degree from UK this past weekend. Calipari also said John Wall has already contacted UK about information for enrolling in summer classes.
Calipari said that even if former players - from UK, UMass or Memphis - do not choose to enroll in classes at UK, they are still welcome to come and train at the Craft Center.
Calipari posted a message on his website, coachcal.com, in which he went into some depth about his philosophy on inviting former players back to campus to complete their degrees and use UK's facilities.
Calipari noted that former Cat Wayne Turner took advantage of the opportunity and received his degree from UK this past weekend. Calipari also said John Wall has already contacted UK about information for enrolling in summer classes.
Calipari said that even if former players - from UK, UMass or Memphis - do not choose to enroll in classes at UK, they are still welcome to come and train at the Craft Center.
Check out Andy Katz' column on ESPN.com as he writes about UMass Hall of Famer John Calipari and UConn coach Jim Calhoun as they prepare to coach against each other in the Final Four. Katz has many references to Calipari's time at UMass from 1988-96. There are also many quotes from Bruiser Flint, who succeeded Calipari as head coach at UMass.
Continue reading ESPN's Andy Katz On Calipari-Calhoun Match-Up.
We have some more stories on UMass Hall of Famer John Calipari as he coaches Kentucky in the Final Four this weekend against UConn.
• New York Daily News: Rivalry between Kentucky's John Calipari and UConn's Jim Calhoun
• Mail Tribune: Final Four teams offer wealth of contrasts
• Cape Cod Times: Conery: Different team, same Cal
• Boston Globe: Great divide
• Boston Herald: Coach Cal a Four runner
• UKAthletics: Calipari eyes elusive national championship
• Louisville Courier-Journal: Calipari-Calhoun, rivalry renewed
• FoxSports.com: How ya like me now?
Former UMass head coach Bruiser Flint is the subject of an interesting story in the Daily Press of Virginia: Flint reflections. He talks about fellow former UMass head coach John Calipari, whom he succeeded with the Minutemen, as well as current CAA foe VCU. Flint just completed his 10th season as the head coach at Drexel in Philadelphia.
"I've coached in two leagues - the A-10 and the CAA," he said. "Both of those leagues have sent teams to the Final Four. There hasn't been another A-10 team since I left the league, but there's been two teams in the CAA since I've been in the league. I must be the good luck charm."
Continue reading Bruiser Flint On Calipari, VCU In Virginia Daily Press.
Here are a few stories about UMass Hall of Famer John Calipari as he prepares to lead his Kentucky team against UConn in the NCAA Final Four. These stories mention his time at UMass prominently.
• North Jersey: Years later, Calhoun, Calipari set to meet on big stage
• Stamford Advocate: In Calhoun vs. Calipari, will 'father' know best?
• Daily Hampshire Gazette: John Calipari, Jim Calhoun have a date in NCAA national semifinals
• Lexington Herald Leader: John Calipari vs. Jim Calhoun one more time
Check out Jeff Goodman's story on UMass Hall of Famer John Calipari after Kentucky beat North Carolina to return to the Final Four. In his story, UMass coach Derek Kellogg is quoted: Coaching clinic.
Here is the piece with Kellogg's comments:
And Calipari has done arguably the most impressive job of his coaching career.
"Unquestionably," said UMass coach Derek Kellogg, who played for and coached under Calipari. "It's been unbelievable to watch some of these guys that never played before like Harrellson, Miller and Liggins almost turn into stars."
Calipari had Marcus Camby the first time he went to the Final Four with UMass in 1996. He had Derrick Rose at Memphis when he lost to Kansas in the national title game in 2008.
This team has talent, but there's no Camby or Rose on this roster.
"Those guys have just come together," Kellogg added. "They do what they need to do to win."
Continue reading Kellogg Quoted In Fox Sports Story On Calipari.
UMass Hall of Famer John Calipari is leading Kentucky to the Final Four. It marks the third school he has taken to the NCAA semifinals including UMass in 1996. Here are some stories mentioning his run with the Minutemen. Yahoo.com story is by UMass alum Dan Wetzel and has quotes from UMass Hall of Famer and former Athletic Director Bob Marcum.
• New York Daily News: Calipari does his best coaching job with young Kentucky
• New York Daily News: Weiss: Calipari's Kentucky team punches in
• Yahoo.com: This entrée is high Cal
• Columbus Dispatch: Calipari brings Kentucky back to spotlight of Final Four
• Newark Star-Ledger: Calipari says any banner this Kentucky team may hang is never coming down
Following his Kentucky team's 62-60 win over Ohio State, which you can read about in the Lexington Herald Leader, former UMass head coach and current Wildcats leader John Calipari made special mention on UMass legendary coach Jack Leaman and the 1995-96 team at UMass. Here is the question and Calipari's comment from the postgame.
QUESTION: John, the balance you got out of the six players that played so much, offensively and defensively, how does it feel as a coach to get that kind of just straight team effort, it wasn't one guy, it was all six? And how have you built maybe over the course of this year to get to this point when it hasn't always gone perfect?
COACH John Calipari: Well, the one thing about playing less players, they seem to become a better team. Jack Leaman when I was at UMass told me I was playing too many guys. He said, You have to play less people. Play six or seven guys. You will get a good team and my '95 team with Marcus (Camby), Carmelo (Travieso), Edgar (Padilla), Donta (Bright) and Dana (Dingle), we only played six guys that year and we were a pretty good team. What happened is like Terrence, I wanted Terrence early in the game to get Sullinger to go off screens and do stuff and drive Sullinger and that was a mistake. And he is not ready for that and that kind of screwed him up the whole first half. The second half he came back and played. That's growth. Earlier in the year when he played that way to start he could not finish the game. Brandon doesn't make a shot and then he makes that three, and then he makes the last shot of the game after missing all of those shots. That's growth. You're just not afraid to miss.
Former UMass coach John Calipari will lead his current team the Kentucky Wildcats into action in the NCAA Regional Semifinal tonight in Newark, N.J. There are several stories on Calipari returning to the state where he coached the Minutemen in the 1996 Final Four as well as where he made his NBA coaching debut with the New Jersey Nets. Check out these stories with mentions of UMass.
• Boston Globe: Nothing but blue skies for Calipari
• North Jersey.com: John Calipari takes Memory Lane into NJ
• Newark Star-Ledger: D'Alessandro: Kentucky coach John Calipari is the best salesman around
Here's a look at UMass' connections to the 2011 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Bracket. 12 UMass opponents this season will be playing in postseason of some kind.
In the 2011 NIT Bracket, here are the connections to UMass.
• Kentucky (#4 East): Coached by former UMass head coach John Calipari and assisted by former UMass assistant coach John Robic.
• Louisville (#4 Southwest): Coached by UMass 1974 alum Rick Pitino, among the all-time assist leaders in school history.
• Xavier (#6 East): Atlantic 10 rival, beat UMass in Cincinnati back on Jan. 12.
• Temple (#7 West): Long-time rival of UMass in the Atlantic 10, narrowly escaped the Minutemen with an overtime win on March 2.
• Memphis (#12 West): Former school of UMass current head coach Derek Kellogg and
former school of senior center Hashim "Big City" Bailey.
• Richmond (#12 Southwest): Atlantic 10's 2011 Champion, beat UMass in Amherst on Jan. 22.
• Bucknell (#13 West): Head coach Dave Paulsen, who came to the Bison from Williams College, also graduated from Williams in '87, where he went to school with '86 grad Kevin Morris, coach of UMass football.
• Boston University (#16 Southwest): Lost to UMass, 71-54, on Dec. 31 at the Mullins Center.
• #1 seed Boston College, hosts McNeese State. The Eagles beat UMass at the TD Garden back on Dec. 4 and are the longtime in-state foe of the Minutemen.
• #3 seed Oklahoma State is coached by former UMass coach Travis Ford and will take on Bay State opponent Harvard in the first round. Ford led UMass to the NIT Finals in 2008 before leaving to lead the Cowboys.
• #3 seed Dayton, the defending NIT Champions, knocked UMass out of the 2011 A-10 Tournament with a 78-50 win in Amherst last Tuesday.
In the 2011 CBI, several UMass opponents from 2010-11 will be in action.
• UCF hosts St. Bonaventure in a game between two UMass foes from this season.
• Rhode Island welcomes Miami (Ohio) on Wednesday. UMass beat the Rams twice in 2011.
• Duquesne will play at Montana for a third Atlantic 10 connection.
• Finally, good luck to former "Voice of the Minutemen" Bob Behler and his Boise State Broncos, as they host Austin Peay in the CBI.
The last of the four postseason tournaments is the College Insider Tournament. Two UMass opponents play in this event.
• Quinnipiac plays the first postseason game of 2011, hosting Buffalo on Monday night.
• Rider travels to Northern Iowa on Tuesday.
Kentucky's 76-68 win over Florida on Saturday marked the 500th collegiate-career victory for Kentucky Coach John Calipari. Calipari has a collegiate record of 500-151 (76.8 percentage). He was 191-73 at UMass from 1988-96.
• Kentucky Kernel: Cal's milestone overshadowed by important in-game milestones
• Gainesville Sun: No. 13 Gators fall at Kentucky
• CBS Sports: Calipari on 500th Career Victory
• Nation of Blue: Kentucky Wildcats Claw Gators in Rupp Arena
The Berkshire Eagle has a story on how former UMass coach and mentor John Calipari gives his full support to Derek Kellogg, in his third year as the head coach at UMass.
"The thing that people don't understand is that he loves the job. It's a dream job for him," said Calipari. "He wants to build it. He wants to raise his family there. It's what he wants."
Continue reading Berkshire Eagle: Calipari Supports Kellogg.
The Lexington Herald-Leader has a must read feature on UMass alum Tony Barbee facing his former coach John Calipari on Tuesday night.
As John Calipari prepared to speak to reporters in the Craft Center on Monday, Auburn Coach Tony Barbee walked by on his way to Kentucky's practice. Huh?
Isn't Kentucky playing Auburn on Tuesday night?
"I told him he's welcome to stay," Calipari said. "It seems like we're running about the same thing. It's not like we're going to confuse him."
Barbee stayed for less than an hour. Then he had to leave to get to Auburn's practice later in the afternoon.
"I don't think it'd make a difference whether I was at (Kentucky's) practice or not," Barbee said.
"We're about helping each other," Barbee said. "I'm running what he's running. He's running what I'm running. Tomorrow when his team calls a play, our team will know what it is because we run the same thing."
Continue reading Great Feature On UMass Alum Barbee, Facing Coach Cal.
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) - University of Kentucky basketball coach and former UMass head coach John Calipari has been nominated for the inaugural United Nations Nongovernment Organization Positive Peace Awards in the coach category.
The group Celebrate Positive said Wednesday that Calipari was nominated by a charity called Samaritan's Feet that provides shoes to the needy around the world. Calipari helped bring shoes to children in Haiti and Detroit.
Samaritan's Feet marketing director Todd Melloch recalled Calipari appearing in bare feet during the national anthem at a Kentucky basketball game to encourage support of the group.
The award nominees are judged by organizations including Rotary International and Sister Cities International. Winners in the sports categories will be announced this month.
On Friday night, UMass welcomed home Marcus Camby. Read Ron Chimelis' story in the Springfield Republican.
"I have great memories here, and entering the Hall of Fame is a great honor,'' he said. "Now I'm in the Hall of Fame with (former teammate) Lou Roe, John Calipari and my idol, Julius Erving. It's overwhelming.''
Continue reading Republican: Camby Still Going Strong.
Marty Dobrow of the Boston Globe has a tremendous story on Marcus Camby and his induction to the UMass Hall of Fame on Friday night.
From ESPN's First Cup this morning, "Tonight, perhaps, the past will finally be reclaimed. John Calipari will be back in the house for a ceremony inducting Marcus DeWayne Camby into the UMass Athletic Hall of Fame. 'He deserves it,' said Calipari, now the coach at the University of Kentucky. 'We were a top 25 [team] before he got there. He took us to the next level. We became No. 1 in the country.' 'It's a great feeling,' said Camby, who is now playing for the Portland Trail Blazers, his fifth NBA team. 'I'm excited to be recognized for my contributions.'
Continue reading Globe: Moving Tribute For Camby, UMass.
Great story by Matt Vautour in the Daily Hampshire Gazette on new UMass Hall of Fame inductee Marcus Camby and his Minuteman coach John Calipari. Among the quote from Camby in the story are:
"I've followed it every year. I wish we could get back to the level we were at when I was there. Playing on these different NBA teams and being around these different players from other schools, I haven't had much to talk about at tournament time," Camby said. "I'm happy that Derek (Kellogg) is the head coach and that we have one of our own there running the program. Him being involved makes me want to be part of the program even more now."
"I feel fortunate to have made the NBA and to have made the amount of money that I have, and have the opportunity to give back. I've always been about kids and giving back," said Camby, who still wants to put his education degree to use. "Hopefully I'll be able to fall back on my education and become an elementary school principal."
Continue reading Gazette: For Calipari, Camby, Lessons Learned.
In a story from the Lexington Herald-Leader about Kentucky's trip to Canada for an exhibition series later this month, head coach John Calipari had high praise for his 1995-96 UMass squad.
In reference to only having 10 scholarship players for the UK trip, Calipari stated: "The best team I ever coached was the UMass team that beat Kentucky to open the season and we played six guys."