Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari isn’t taking back a statement he made during last Thursday’s NBA draft.
He’s just still having to explain it.
The Wildcats became the first team to produce five first-round selections when point guard John Wall went No. 1 to Washington, center DeMarcus Cousins went fifth to Sacramento, power forward Patrick Patterson went 14th to Houston, guard Eric Bledsoe went 18th to Oklahoma City and backup center Daniel Orton went 29th to Orlando. After history was made, Calipari told ESPN’s Heather Cox, “I’d like to say it is the biggest day in the history of Kentucky’s program.”
“I wasn’t talking to the past,” Calipari said Monday during a Southeastern Conference teleconference. “I was talking to the future. It was a two-hour infomercial for our league and for the University of Kentucky, and it will speak volumes for the next five years or maybe longer, and that’s what I meant by it.”
Kentucky has racked up 2,023 career victories, more than any other school nationally, and its seven national championships rank second only to UCLA’s 11. The Lexington Herald-Leader interviewed several former Wildcats about Calipari’s comment, and they were not amused.