Never let it be said that John Calipari enters a room, or a conference, through the side door. The man has yet to coach a single basketball game at Kentucky yet is already calling out his rivals at Tennessee and Louisville.

Said Not-So-Silent Cal during Thursday's Southeastern Conference Basketball Media Day, "I won't paint my body (UT's Bruce Pearl) and I won't wear a white suit (Louisville's Rick Pitino)."

Talk about hitting the ground running.

Yet aside from that singular dig, Calipari and Pearl were surprisingly complimentary of each other, given the intensity of their rivalry when Cal was still at Memphis.

"Kentucky has got Final Four talent and one of the best coaches in the country at putting it together," Pearl said.

Countered Cal: "Listen, (Pearl) came in and beat us when we were No. 1 in the country. I think it's just competitiveness (regarding their supposed dislike for each other). He was trying to take over the state (in recruiting), and I wouldn't let him."

Those wars were well-documented. Particularly in regard to guard Willie Kemp (whom Calipari got) and Wayne Chism (who chose Pearl).

But Calipari's explanation went further.

"I publicly conceded the rest of the state other than Memphis," he said. "But you're (UT) not having anything to do with Memphis. That's why I didn't want to play a home-and-home. I'm not recruiting Knoxville. You're recruiting Memphis.

"What good would it do for me to go to Knoxville other than to play in front of 22,000 people in orange, and I can't stand the color."

Pearl took no shots at UK's blue, but he couldn't resist a dig at the Wildcats' recent coaching carousel.

"I've been at Tennessee four years, and this is the third different (UK) guy I'm going up against," said Pearl, referring to former Cats coaches Tubby Smith (2-2 against Pearl) and Billy Gillispie (3-1 against Pearl) along with Calipari (2-2).

According to Calipari, this UK team may look much different to Pearl than those Memphis squads.

"It's like coaching Martians," Cal said of the Cats, who are ranked in the top five nationally of almost every preseason poll. "I'm yelling at guys to shoot the ball. Everybody wants to make one more pass. We don't have an out-of-bounds play yet. We don't have a press yet."

He did say of his dribble-drive offense: "The dribble-drive is the Princeton (offense) on steroids. Instead of the Princeton pass-pass and try to score 50, we're trying to score 90, but it's the same idea."

Mostly, the idea of what's good for Kentucky is good for the SEC is once more alive and well.

"It's a huge boost," Pearl said of Calipari's hiring. "Ask CBS. Ask ESPN. We will all be elevated."

At least everyone save those Kentucky businesses that specialize in body paint and white suits.