John Calipari on recruiting vs. Duke for five-star freshman Paolo Banchero

John Calipari didn’t shy away from praising Paolo Banchero following Kentucky’s loss to Duke last night. While the five-star freshman chose the Blue Devils over the Wildcats, it’s evident that Calipari thinks highly of Banchero.

In a 79-71 victory, Banchero’s ability was on full display. The forward scored 22 points and added seven rebounds in his debut. After watching it first-hand, Calipari detailed how impressed he was with the player he once attempted to court to Kentucky.

“Really good. Really good. He’s really good,” said Calipari in his post-game press conference. “Great kid, great family. Really good. You almost, you can’t — we had too much respect for him.

“We backed away and now he shoots. No. Make him make basketball plays. I kept saying it, but we’re afraid, so they kept backing up.”

Moreover, Calipari detailed how difficult it was for his squad to guard the talented Banchero.

“Now Jacob [Toppin] seemed to go guard him and make him spin and do some stuff. But I even said prior to the game, they’re going to iso him,” said Calipari. “I thought they would short pick and a step-up screen and short roll him to the foul line and let him play there.

“Well they played him on an elbow and they played him in a short corner. It was the same idea. And then we were like, Okay, how are we going to do this. And it was a tough matchup. Keion didn’t play that bad it was a tough matchup. We wanted to try to win the game.”

The Wildcats didn’t have any luck guarding Banchero on Tuesday night. Still, Calipari wished the freshman well in the rest of his time in college basketball.

Calipari: ‘I hope he does well.’

Furthermore, Calipari was asked what it feels like to see players he recruited thrive against his team. While the Kentucky coach recruited other Duke players like Jeremy Roach, A.J. Griffin and Mark Williams, it’s evident that Banchero is the one that stings.

“Paolo’s the one that we recruited so hard,” said Calipari. “I’m fine with it. I don’t take this stuff personal. I hope he does well and I hope we play him again and he doesn’t play so well.

“But his dad is Italian and he’s an Italian citizen. So am I. I got a passport. And I still didn’t get him. I don’t know. So, but you know, I mean, he’s good.”

John Calipari and Paolo Banchero may share Italian roots, but it wasn’t enough to lead the talented freshman to Kentucky. As Mike Krzyzewski begins his final season at Duke, Calipari recognizes his counterpart is lucky to have a player as talented as Banchero on his squad.