John Calipari reveals his thoughts on Big Blue Nation engagement, occasional vitriol

When you’re the head coach of perhaps the largest college basketball program in the country, there’s going to be plenty of good and a little bit of bad. After nearly a decade and a half as head of Kentucky, John Calipari has learned to love the Big Blue Nation for its goodhearted fans, while dealing with the few sour apples that throw anger his way.

As part of his campaign to give back to fans, Calipari and members of the Kentucky team, including Player of the Year Oscar Tshiebwe, are touring Krogers across the state to meet fans and help raise money for the commonwealth.

During one of the stops, media members caught up with Coach Cal to ask him about his experience with the fans, who came from far and wide to meet the coach and some of the players throughout their little tour.

“Everybody said…you’ll be amazed at how engaged the fans are. And [Coach Joe B. Hall] said that there’s always that one percent, and don’t let them faze you. There’s gonna be that. But this is my 14th year and that hasn’t hit us much. So I guess people waiting in the wings to do it. So I wanted to know: who’s this one percent they’ll talk about? I haven’t seen them. We’ve been here.”

One reporter joked that those fans are all over Twitter these days. To which Cal responded, “yeah, now they are,” before continuing to praise Kentucky fans at large. He also used his own upbringing to explain how he relates to the fans.

“We got the best fans. You know, I grew up like our fans. I’m from western PA. I mean people come through the line. That’s why I respect my mom worked in a high school cafeteria, my dad was a baggage handler. Well, I’m gonna look down on somebody? Don’t look down on anybody. I mean this is who I am, what I’m about, what I’ve been about. Haven’t changed.”

Calipari wants the kids he coaches to understand the same values. That giving back to the fans that offer so much support to the program is an important part of being a Kentucky basketball player.

“Let these kids get to…the hospitals, they went to a children’s hospital the other day. Let them get to assisted living places — we did that. Let them get to some different boys clubs and different things. You just want them to understand — do something and don’t expect anything in return.”

Whatever folks think about him on the court, there’s no doubt that John Calipari has always coached his team to be a class act off the court and in the community that has made the basketball program for the last 100+ years.