John Calipari likes Kentucky's position entering Year 15 -- and Beyond

In December 2011, John Calipari said being Kentucky’s head coach was only a ten-year job. Already two years into his tenure in Lexington and in the midst of what would end up being a national championship season — the first of Calipari’s career — he said he only wanted to coach as long as he was “having a ball” and the all-encompassing nature of the position didn’t make him bitter.

Fourteen years in and coming off three disappointing seasons, Calipari isn’t ready to hang his hat up just yet. Entering year fifteen, Cal said he is reenergized by his new team, which is like his early Kentucky teams in that it is centered around elite freshmen. Further, he likes what’s on the horizon even more.

“[College basketball], it’s changed and but Kentucky is Kentucky,” Calipari said at Media Day. “Recruiting in the 2024 class? Really good. 2025 class may be even better. The kids want to play here, want to be here, and all that. Well, let’s go. Part of the reason is, this group came and these were popular players within the basketball world.”

That’s at least the fourth time in the past week that Calipari has mentioned Kentucky’s recruiting efforts in the 2024 and 2025 classes. Last week, the Cats landed a commitment from five-star point guard Boogie Fland, who joins four-star center Somto Cyril in Kentucky’s 2024 class. Right when Calipari’s press conference started, news broke that five-star shooting guard VJ Edgecombe will take an official visit to Kentucky this weekend along with five-star center Jayden Quaintance. Add in Kentucky’s efforts with Patrick Ngongba (who included UK in his top three today), Billy Richmond, and Karter Knox, and Calipari could finish very strong with the 2024 class after a slow start.

Then there’s the 2025 class, which Calipari seems most excited about. Kentucky’s top prospects include Darius Acuff, the Boozer twins, Darryn Peterson, Caleb Wilson, Meleek Thomas, Malachi Moreno, Koa Peat, in-state star Jasper Johnson and, AJ Dybantsa, the No. 1 overall player in the On3 Industry Ranking. The 2025 class is considered one of the best in recent memory by recruiting experts; judging by Cal’s comments this week, they’re enough for him to keep him moving full steam ahead.

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Calipari on Kentucky: “You have to love the grind of it”

“Did I say ten [years]?” Calipari joked when asked about his comments from 2011 about Kentucky being a ten-year job. “Did I not say seven? Did I say ten? Ten?”

“No, look. Here’s what I would say: this is one of those jobs, you have to love the grind of it. You cannot listen to the clutter. You can’t buy into anything. You’ve just got to make sure you’re coaching your team.

“But the other side of it is, you’ve got to get the best players you can get here because of the expectation. It doesn’t matter who’s in that uniform. What’s the expectation? National championship.”

Of course, Kentucky only has one national championship during the Calipari era. The Cats have been very close on more than one occasion, falling to UConn in the national championship game in 2014 and making the Final Four two more times, 2011 and 2015. Since then, Kentucky has not advanced past the Elite Eight and hasn’t gotten out of the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament since 2019 — although Calipari pointed out again today that the 2019-20 team starring Tyrese Maxey, Immanuel Quickley, and Nick Richards was hitting its stride just when the NCAA Tournament was canceled due to COVID.

“Unfortunate when we had [Tyrese] Maxey and [Immanuel] Quickley [that the tournament got canceled], I mean, it makes you want to — that’s why they cried on the bus on the way back from Nashville; they knew they could have won it all. They still talk about it now. That wasn’t, ‘Well, that was 10 years ago.’ No, no, it wasn’t.”

“So, we’re close. This group, what is happening in ’24, ’25. I’m liking where this program is right now.”

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KSR’s Kentucky Basketball Media Day Coverage

It was a busy afternoon at the Joe Craft Center, but the KSR crew had several boots on the ground to cover all the action — that is, until the fire alarm went off. Catch up on all of our coverage below.

• Zvonimir Ivisic will likely make debut next week vs. Kentucky State
• John Calipari energized entering Year 15
• John Calipari shares NIL approach; players stay mum
• Media Day Photo Gallery
• KSR Rapid Reaction
• John Calipari Press Conference
• Interviews with Bradshaw, Onyenso, Ivisic, Wagner