CBB: The Real John Calipari: Basketball, Community, Family, and Future.

John Calipari smiled when he got the academic report for his 2010-2011 basketball team.  He smiled because all his kids completed all of their coursework.  He smiled because his star point guard Brandon Knight had a 4.0 GPA, even though Knight knew he was going to leave after one year. 

He smiled because he saw that even the unjustifiably ineligible Enes Kanter completed all of his coursework.  His smile was even bigger when he saw that his team's GPA was a more than respectable 3.2. 

Calipari thought this was going to be the end of what can be classified as nothing less than an "media witch hunt" on him and the academic integrity of the University of Kentucky.  But as is so often the case, facts do nothing to sway the opinions of the ignorant.  

Bob Knight said Kentucky had "none of the five one-and-dones in their starting lineup go to class last year (09-10)."  Bob Knight did not realize that all of Kentucky's starting lineup went to class, that Kentucky had only three freshman in their starting lineup and that Patrick Patterson and John Wall were in superior academic standing.  

Pete Thamel wrote pieces questioning the academic careers of Eric Bledsoe and star center Demarcus Cousins only to have nothing come of the situation at all.   Len Elmore saw Enes Kanter doing homework at the NBA draft combine and said "well this is something rare for the Kentucky program!" 

Knight, Thamel and Elmore all said these hurtful things with almost an ignorant arrogance.  An arrogance that said that they did not care if the statements they were saying were true or false.  An arrogance that said they did not care if they ruined the reputation of the young men they were writing or speaking about.  An arrogance that said they only really want to do one thing: bring down John Calipari.

Since Calipari has come to Kentucky, the program's fans have had to deal with a lot of things: false reports about just about every player Calipari has coached, unjustifiable rulings from the NCAA on some of Kentucky's best players, questioning from just about every major college basketball writer and winning a whole lot more games than just about anybody in the entire college basketball landscape. 

Calipari's detractors will claim that he put two programs on probation, that he only coaches one-and-done players (who do not care about academics) and that he does not care about his community.  All of these claims could not be further from the truth.

A lot of Calipari's detractors will claim that him coaching at a school that is as traditional of a power as Kentucky proves that the world is unjust.  They will say that he single-handedly put two programs on probation, that he should not be allowed to coach in college basketball at all and him coaching at one of college basketball's top five programs is nothing short of preposterous. 

All of these detractors would have a point if Calipari actually put the University of Massachusetts and the University of Memphis on probation.  The truth is that Calipari was never brought up in any of these violations, and both times the NCAA ruled that he was not knowledgeable of these violations. 

This is the same NCAA that we can safely say may have a healthy bias against Calipari.  It's the same institution that ruled Turkish center Enes Kanter ineligible for receiving excessive payments but still allowed Cam Newton and Terelle Pryor to play with little to no penalty. 

It is the same NCAA that somehow justified not giving Kentucky higher than a four seed by saying that they did not watch Kentucky's conference tournament (yet had time to watch that great Patriot League final!). 

It is safe to say that if Calipari had anything to do with the violations at UMASS and Memphis, he would not be coaching right now.  It is safe to say that if he did even the slightest thing wrong, he would not be coaching right now.  But Calipari is coaching right now at one of the five best college basketball schools in America, and he is winning more than just about any coach in America.

The next thing Calipari's detractors will say is that he only coaches "the one-and-dones" and that these players "do not go to class."  It is safe to say that while Calipari has had a high rate of one-year players in his two years at Kentucky, it can also be said that he has done a great job developing players who are planning to stay more than one year. 

Last year Calipari mixed veterans (Darius Miller, DeAndre Liggins and Josh Harrelson) with freshmen (Doron Lamb, Terrence Jones and Brandon Knight) and led Kentucky to their first Final Four in 13 years. 

We also know that all of Calipari's players besides Daniel Orton (Kentucky lost a scholarship for this) have gone to class and some of them have even "excelled" in the classroom.  Kentucky is one of the few schools that can claim that 80 percent of their one-and-dones went to class. 

Kentucky is also one of the few programs that can claim that two of these student athletes (Wall and Knight) are top 10 draft picks that boasted GPA's over 3.5.  In Knight's case, he came to Kentucky with over 20 AP credits, and he plans to return to school this summer to finish his academic career.  When we look at the academic situation at Kentucky, we see something that should be lavished with praise and not constantly and unjustifiably criticized.  

On the same note, Coach Cal's detractors will say that he should "stop recruiting the one-year players."  Often times the one-year player is one of the top-rated prospects in his recruiting class.  This is essentially telling Calipari: "Stop recruiting so well!" That request is almost laughable. 

Calipari's said he came to Kentucky not only to win but to "recruit the best of the best," and he has done both things while he is at Kentucky.  If it is in one of these player's best interest to leave after one year Calipari will tell them this: "If you want to help my family, stay.  If you want to help your family, leave."

It is arguably the best and most honest advice a coach can give a prospect who is trying to see if he should enter the NBA.  While so many other major schools hold players who should be in the draft back, Calipari's gives these players accurate information so they can do what is the best for them. 

This policy should also be more praised as Calipari will help at least nine players accomplish their NBA dreams in his first two seasons at Kentucky.  What other coach gets criticized constantly for helping kids achieve what they have worked their whole lives for?

Others will say that Calipari does not care about his community and only cares about "winning it all costs" and "sending the one-year players to the pros."  This could not be further from the truth.  Calipari is known for keeping in touch constantly with his players but more important than that he is known for his community service. 

In the middle of the 2009-2010 season, Calipari helped organize a "Hoops For Haiti" telethon that helped raise over a million dollars for victims in Haiti.  Calipari recently went back to Haiti to help with the recovery effort. 

Calipari still donates almost millions of dollars to important organizations in Memphis even though he is one of the cities most hated people.  Calipari is coaching the Dominican Republic team in hopes of "helping to build basketball in the Dominican Republic not only for the 2012 Olympics but for many years after that." 

Calipari recently traveled to China to hope train coaches in hope of building basketball there.   Calipari was recently a speaker at the "Dick Vitale Gala Heart of The Program" where he said these things:

"Now as I get older, life becomes less about me and more about everyone around me. It’s about players reaching their dreams, assistants becoming head coaches, support staff growing their families and also helping the Big Blue Nation realize their dreams. It’s about causes that move me, like this one."

"In closing, earlier this week I relayed to the Big Blue Nation that I NEVER want to be JUST a basketball coach. I coach basketball and it’s my profession but it’s not who I am. But, we can use our positions to come together on nights like this for a very worthy cause. It’s the people we touch through this game and those who we will touch tonight who feel moved to do something to help us fight this dreaded disease. Mom, I love you. Thank you."

If this is the voice of a man who does not care about his community, then I want to see someone who actually cares about their community.  If this is a voice of a man who does not care his players, then I want to meet another coach who actually cares more. 

If this is a voice of man that does not care about his family and friends, then I want to meet someone else in basketball who uses their position better than Calipari.  If this is the voice of a selfish man, then 99 percent of us are morally screwed. 

This is not a selfish man, this is not a cheating man, this is not a bad man at all.  This is just the real John Calipari, the one the New York Times will never tell you about.

It does not matter what the facts say, what the donations say, what the transcripts say, where Calipari's players are picked in the draft.  Their will always be stubborn journalist irrationally slamming him behind made up or false sources because they do not like the fact that he is coaching at Kentucky. 

As a rational person though, I can take comfort in facts and what I observe.  I see nothing wrong with what I observe and am actually damn excited about what I am going to be observing.  This is the same feeling Calipari probably had when he saw his teams transcripts or when he saw the recruiting class he has coming in next year.  Rational excitement.  A rational excitement that is too often lost in today's new media.