Next Chapter of Calipari Era Set to Begin
Having reached 10 years as Kentucky head coach, John Calipari can’t help but reflect on the past. The achievements are too numerous not to.
Even so, such a milestone has Coach Cal’s mind on the future before all else.
“Kind of thinking back, it’s been a pretty good run,” Coach Cal said. “So now going forward has been I’m, this is the second tour, let’s see what happens now. That, what happened for those 10 years is done. Final Fours, national champion, all the stuff, it’s done. Now what happens in the next 10?”
From Southeastern Conference championships to NCAA Tournament success to billions earned by Wildcats at the next level, the first Coach Cal decade has been a remarkable one. He wants the second to outdo it.
“How do we grow as a program?” Calipari said. “How do we keep getting better as a staff? As a coach, how do I keep leading better, communicating better, what do I do and forget with that. Let’s move to this next tour. This next 10.”
This next 10 begins with the 2019-20 season, which is barely a month away. Reporters jammed the media room at Memorial Coliseum and later the gym at the Joe Craft Center for Kentucky’s annual Media Day to preview that season.
Calipari brought a roster with a mix of returning talent, promising returners and an experienced graduate transfer to the annual spectacle. The foundation of the group figures to be sophomore guards Ashton Hagans and Immanuel Quickley and big men Nick Richards and EJ Montgomery, the former a junior and the latter a sophomore.
Surrounding them will be guard Tyrese Maxey; wing players Keion Brooks, Johnny Juzang, Dontaie Allen, and Kahlil Whitney; and grad transfer forward Nate Sestina. Those newcomers are all listed between 6-foot-3 and 6-9, giving Calipari plenty of versatility and plenty of options.
“We have a lot of interchangeable parts,” Brooks said. “In practice, we’re guarding all types of different people during the day to challenge us to see how we do. Coach Calipari has a good problem on his hands how he can move us all around.”
With UK a bit thin in the frontcourt in terms of traditional bigs, there stands a good chance Brooks and Whitney could shift to play the four.
“I’ve always made sure that I can be put in different places because if you play multiple positions they make sure you’re on the floor, so I’m just happy and eager to see what he does with me,” Brooks said. “He has a good track record with people like me, so I’m just eager to see what he does.”
Calipari also has a good track record with point guards. That’s good news, because Hagans, Quickley and Maxey give him three. Quickley played primarily off the ball last season and figures to do the same this year, but Hagans and Maxey are going toe to toe every day at the point.
“He’s good,” Hagans said of his fellow point guard. “He’s getting me better; I’m getting him better. I know we’re going to go out there and compete. I, Tyrese, (Immanuel) Quickley and Johnny (Juzang) go at it and argue every day in practice. We’re just trying to make each other better and get ready for the season.”
Coach Cal is going to let things at the point shake out naturally, but he also knows Hagans, Quickley and Maxey will all have roles.
“This year I think we have three guys that easily could play point guard,” Calipari said. “And there may be times that all three of them play at one time. I’ve done that before when we had Jamal (Murray), Isaiah (Briscoe) and Tyler (Ulis). We played three point guards. And your teams, there’s things you give up but there’s things you gain.”
UK would give up some strength playing such a lineup. That hits on the biggest question mark Coach Cal sees for his team heading into the season.
“Are we going to be physical enough?” Calipari said. “Because our defense on the ball should be unbelievable. I think we’re long enough that other positions, if you try to beat us to the rim, we can block shots. That’s the sign of a really good defensive team. Now, if you get roughed up, can you still play, can you still perform? Do we have the physical, mental toughness?”
Sestina, who averaged 15.8 points and 8.5 rebounds last season at Bucknell, wants to help answer those questions.
“For us to be the team I want us to be, we need to rebound and defend,” Sestina said. “I think that everyone on our team is a physical specimen in their own respect, and I think that for us to really go where we want to go, I think that we need to be physical. So far in the five or six practices that we’ve had, we really have shown that.”
