John Calipari says Dan Issel will always have a seat at Kentucky games

I don’t think any of us expected to start our day with a John Calipari/Dan Issel story, but here we are. This morning, Calipari took to Twitter to make it clear that Issel, the program’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder, will always have a seat at games while he’s the coach.

“Let me make one thing clear: I am in charge of this basketball program and as long as I am in this position, Dan Issel will ALWAYS be taken care of and have a seat wherever he wants. He can even sit in my seat if he wants!! Dan is, and will always be, part of our FAMILY!!”

Let me make one thing clear: I am in charge of this basketball program and as long as I am in this position, @DanIssel44 will ALWAYS be taken care of and have a seat wherever he wants. He can even sit in my seat if he wants!!

Dan is, and will always be, part of our FAMILY!!

— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) December 30, 2021

What’s that about? On his radio show with Mike Pratt on Monday, the topic of Kansas came up, which led to Issel talking about trying to get a ticket to Kentucky’s game at The Phog on Jan. 29.

Pratt: “Of course, you’ll be at Kansas, hopefully behind the Kentucky bench.”

Issel: “Well, that depends on who gets me the best tickets.”

Pratt: “You’re holding out, aren’t you?”

Issel: “Yeah. If Bill Self gets me a seat behind the bench and Kentucky does what they usually do to me and have me in the nosebleed section, then I’ll have a Kansas t-shirt on and be sitting behind Bill…if Bill gets me the best ticket, that’s where I’ll be sitting.”

From here, Pratt offered to make a call on Issel’s behalf to ensure he has a good seat at the Kansas game, to which Issel said don’t bother.

Issel: “No, it won’t be a good ticket. I guarantee, I guarantee. I called and they always pin it on, well, you’ve got tickets but I distribute my tickets around and some games I don’t have access to my own tickets. The last time I called down there and asked for two tickets –“

Pratt: “You were willing to pay?”

Issel: “Yeah! I always — I never ask for a free ticket. Even with the Nuggets. Now, I don’t have to pay for them but I at least act like I would. I never ask for a free ticket. I was barely in the lower bowl [at Rupp]. Two years ago, maybe it was three, before COVID, I called and asked for two tickets and said I’d pay for them. I was in the next to the last row in the lower bowl, so I don’t have a lot of faith that you can get me a decent ticket at Kansas.”

Yesterday, the comments started to make the rounds on Louisville talk radio and social media. Pratt even tweeted that the ticket gripes are a “running joke” between the two:

A running joke between Dan & I. He will be taken care of

— Mike Pratt (@MikePratt22) December 30, 2021

It feels weird that Calipari would even address this publicly, but here we are. If you want to hear Issel’s comments for yourself, they begin around the 39-minute mark below.