Orlando Antigua is in his third season as an assistant coach under John Calipari at Kentucky. UK fans are familiar with seeing him on the sideline and they know all about the role he plays in the three consecutive No. 1 recruiting classes the Wildcats have had, but since he and the other assistants don’t often speak with the media, not as much is known about him off the court.Fox News Latino published a story this morning that will change that a bit.The story talks about how Antigua survived being shot as an innocent bystander and how he overcame the experience to play at Pittsburgh and for the Harlem Globetrotters. Eventually, the piece discusses how his coaching career got started.

The run with the high-profile Globetrotters gave Antigua the exposure to make the transition to coaching. He got his break with his alma mater Panthers and later joined the coaching staff of the Memphis Tigers.That’s where he joined Calipari. Nowadays, aside from teaching the X’s and O’s alongside Calipari, Antigua plays the role of a big brother, motivating youngsters on the team who are usually thousands of miles away from their families, whether they need guidance in the classrooms, on the court or off the court. He clearly uses his second chance at being alive to push them.“I especially use it because everyone, when you’re living, you’re going to have obstacles that you have to overcome. Be it a bullet to the head or an ankle injury or a knee injury, people are going to have things, obstacles to overcome,” said Antigua. “The motivation and the focus that you put towards it, it’s where you have to ability to overcome that obstacle. I understand that’s where the power of the human being is.”

LINK: After near-death experience, Orlando Antigua lives for Kentucky basketball