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Derrick Rose 'hated' John Calipari, says he lied to mom during recruitment

On3-Social-Profile_GRAYby:On3 Staff Report10/26/22
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New York Knicks point guard Derrick Rose sits on the bench at a game on March 25, 2022. (Eric Asada / Getty Images)

Former Memphis star and 2011 NBA MVP Derrick Rose wasn’t in college for long, but his one-year stint playing for John Calipari was enough to give him some stories to tell for a lifetime. Not all of them positive.

In a video clip posted to The Dope Academy TV’s Instagram account on Tuesday, Rose said he ‘hated’ Calipari while he was at Memphis and that Calipari ‘tricked’ his mom into allowing him to go there in the first place.

“Cal had me on, like, with tunnel vision,” Rose explained. “Like, ay, I hated him while I was there. Because bruh, he tricked my mom to even getting me there. Told her like, showing her the facility, he went down there, acting like he going to be a nice guy, like all coaches do. You know what I’m saying?”

Rose has spoken about his relationship with Calipari in the past.

The two appear to have ironed things out over the years, but suffice it to say Rose’s time in Memphis during the 2007-08 season wasn’t always smooth, even though the Tigers eventually reached the national championship game before falling to Kansas in an epic overtime game.

In fact, Rose nearly bolted early in his freshman year.

“I get on the court, I ain’t doing s*** the right way, he threatened me, out of all the people, to kick me out of the gym,” Rose said. “‘Hey, if you do this m*****f*****, you going to get out the gym. One more mistake. (Andre Allen), get in.’

“Dre is holding out, going Dre. Dre had been there like two or three years at the time so he know the system already. So he coming in doing everything exactly how Cal wanted him to do it. I’m sick.”

Derrick Rose had to be talked into staying at Memphis

Frustrated with Calipari’s tough love approach to practice, Rose contemplated leaving Memphis. It was an old acquaintance from back home in Chicago, Andre Hamlin, who eventually talked him into staying.

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“I’m calling my guy Dre, who I was telling you that I was taking care of, I’m finna leave this m*****f*****, bruh,” Rose said. “I don’t f*** with Cal, bruh. He’s like, ‘Man, stick it through.'”

Rose, of course, would stick it out. And Memphis went on a magical run to the NCAA title game, even though the program would later vacate Memphis’ entire season as the result of a controversy over Rose’s SAT scores.

So despite the early friction with Calipari, Rose ended up with some fond memories of his time with the Tigers.

“I end up falling in love with, like, the team, bruh,” Rose said. “They took me as like little bro. And that year we end up going all the way to the championship. We ended up losing in the championship, but the memories I got from that was like something that was priceless, you know what I’m saying? Even though they like banned that s***, everyone still knew what went on down there.”