The Four C's Of A Final Four Rivalry: Calipari, Calhoun, Camby and Competitiveness

Regardless of what transpires during the game Saturday, the pre- and postgame interactions between the two head coaches should be interesting.  There’s a long history of chilliness between John Calipari and Jim Calhoun, which, according to ESPN’s Andy Katz, dates all the way back to the recruitment of Marcus Camby.  At the time, Camby was one of, if not the, top basketball player in the country and was in Calhoun’s backyard in Connecticut.  Despite that fact and UConn’s frenzy to land him, he never really showed any interest.  He wanted to play for Cal at UMass.  And Calhoun hated it because he thought he was constantly being overshadowed.  First by Rick Pitino, then by Calipari.

From the story:

“He wanted to beat the up-and-coming hot-shot guy,” Dickenman said. “Rick was that at BU when Jim was at Northeastern. And John was the guy at UMass when Jim was at Connecticut. Jim hates to lose at anything. He’s a tough guy. He’s tough on himself and that carries on to his team.”

The piece goes on to out outline the history of the rivalry between the two, but there’s nothing too sensational about it.  According to Katz, they are both just competitive guys and they hate losing.  Calipari got to the Final Four before Calhoun and got to a #1 ranking before him and it’s a competitive grudge he’s held ever since.  Now he gets the chance to finish ahead of him in the Final Four.  Beef!