John Calipari discusses his love for Toronto, gives hilarious recruiting pitch

John Calipari’s recruiting ties in Canada run deep since becoming Kentucky‘s head coach over a decade ago. He’s recruiting six key players to his program over the years from the Great White North, and he doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon.

After defeating Team Canadian 93-69 during Game 2 of Kentucky’s 2023 GLOBL JAM round-robin bracket, Calipari might’ve opened the door for even more Canadian-born recruits to come through his program. He said he’s willing to welcome any international star into his program.

“How can you not get every Canadian that can play? I don’t know. I have no idea why [the recruit] wouldn’t call us and say that every kid that comes to you is in the league and fighting for minutes,” Calipari said. “So tell me why? I don’t know. They don’t, but we take them all.”

Of course, the two crowning jewels to Calipari’s claim to Canadian recruits lie in Jamal Murray and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Gilgeous-Alexander made the most of this past NBA season, averaging 31.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and 1.6 steals in 35.5 minutes per game. He became a first-time All-Star, was named to the All-NBA First-Team and finished fifth in MVP voting. Murray had less of an explosive season in the box score but helped lead his team alongside Nikola Jokic to win the 2023 NBA Finals.

In 20 postseason contests, Murray averaged 26.1 points, 5.7 rebounds, 7.1 assists, and 1.5 steals in 40.0 minutes per outing en route to his first NBA Finals series victory. During that run, Murray became the first player in NBA history to ever have 10+ assists in each of his first four NBA Finals games. He went on to average 10.0 assists on the series.

Former Kentucky forward Trey Lyles also played for the latest Canadian Olympic team, too. Mychal Mulder, Kyle Witjer and Shaedon Sharpe are both Canadian as well.

Gilgeous-Alexander, Murray, Sharpe and Lyles are regular bodies on their respective teams, while Mulder and Wiltjer both have made NBA rosters at some point throughout their careers. Mulder was most recently participating in the 2023 NBA Summer League with the Boston Celtics. Witljer, who hasn’t played in the NBA since 2017, is currently playing for China’s Zhejiang Lions.

While no Canadian-born athletes are playing for Calipari for the 2023-24 season, that isn’t stopping the UK coach from continuing to dip his toes into international recruiting waters. It’s unfathomable to think that Calipari wouldn’t have used this trip to check in on a recruit or two.