John Calipari on Friday responded to Bob Knight’s comments.
Sweating after a strenuous practice, Calipari told reporters in Kentucky:
“What I can tell you is, I’m a big fan, respect him as a basketball coach, always have,” Calipari said. “Matter of fact, I took my [Memphis] staff down to Texas Tech, spent a day, watched him practice. [He] helped me with the dribble-drive — made it even better. [I] don’t agree with what he said, but it doesn’t change how I feel about him.”
Knight became the highest-profile person in the college basketball world to call out Calipari when he made these comments Thursday at the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame.
“We’ve gotten into this situation where integrity is really lacking and that’s why I’m glad I’m not coaching,” Knight said. “You see we’ve got a coach at Kentucky who put two schools on probation and he’s still coaching. I really don’t understand that.”
Calipari is the only coach in history to have two Final Fours vacated, yet he himself has escaped punishment. His 1996 Final Four appearance with UMass was vacated because center Marcus Camby was found to have taken money from an agent. His 2008 Final Four with Memphis was taken away after it was learned that someone else took the SAT for point guard Derrick Rose.
Of course, Knight’s comments beg the question: Is he really the right person to deliver this message?
Isn’t this the same guy who threw a folding chair across the court and was accused of slapping one of his players in the face?
Knight’s comments have triggered numerous responses, including this thoughtful piece from our friends at Rush the Court.
FREE THROWS
Great column on Lance Stephenson by Rick Bozich worth reading here.…Long Island announced the signing of 5-10 guard Jason Brickman out of San Antonio, Texas…Harold Spears scored his 1,000th career point for Pennington (NJ) Dec. 14.
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