John Calipari will receive John R. Wooden Award Legends of Coaching honor

This spring, Kentucky men’s basketball head coach John Calipari will accept one of college basketball’s most prestigious coaching honors.

It was announced on Tuesday by the Los Angeles Athletic Club that Calipari is set to receive the John R. Wooden Award Legends of Coaching honor. This honor recognizes everything that the veteran head coach has done both on and off the hardwood throughout his coaching career. It is meant for coaches “who exemplify Coach Wooden’s high standard of coaching success and personal integrity.” The Legends of Coaching Award was adopted by the Wooden Award Steering Committee in 1999.

Along with the 2024 Wooden Award winners, Calipari will be presented with the honor at the annual Wooden Awards, which will take place on April 12, 2024.

“To receive an honor in John Wooden’s name is really special to me because he not only is the greatest coach of all-time, but because of the relationship I developed with his family over the years,” Calipari said in UK’s press release. “His daughter, Nan, and he have been so kind to me. I look forward to April and hopefully having a Player of the Year candidate there with me.”

John Calipari has been named the 2024 John R. Wooden Award Legends of Coaching recipient. He was announced by Greg Wooden, Coach Wooden’s grandson, at the Los Angeles Athletic Club.

He will receive her award in April 2024 during Wooden Award weekend pic.twitter.com/gjkavWV5TO

— John R. Wooden Award (@WoodenAward) October 3, 2023

On the court, Calipari’s coaching resume speaks for itself. He holds a record of 387-113 while at Kentucky (832-253 overall), including one national championship (2012), four Final Four appearances, six Southeastern Confernce regular season championships, and six SEC Tournament titles. He is one of just two head coaches (along with Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski) in history to win the Naismith Coach of the Year award three times, doing so with UMass in ’95-96, Memphis in ’07-08, and Kentucky in ’14-15.

Off the floor, Calipari has always been at the forefront of community involvement and advocating for positive change across college basketball. Among his many contributions, he helped start the John McLendon Minority Leadership Initiative, which helps minorities jump-start their coaching careers, and he also created the John Calipari Foundation back in 2012 where he’s partnered with the likes of Samaritan’s Feet and the American Red Cross.

“Coach John Calipari has been a significant part of the Wooden Award experience, dating back to his first head coaching assignment at UMass,” Sam Lagana, Chairman of the Wooden Award Steering Committee, said. “He has supported the Award and stood with his candidates and winners every step of the way. Coach Wooden had an appreciation for Coach Cal that carried through the years and Coach Calipari has demonstrated great reverence for Coach Wooden as both shared a ‘players first’ mentality, with emphasis on care for the student-athlete and in the value of competitive greatness. John Calipari is a wonderful addition to the fraternity of Wooden Award ‘Legends of Coaching’ recipients.”

Calipari is the first Kentucky coach since the award’s inception in 1999 to be honored. Former Wildcat head coach Tubby Smith won the award in 2016, although he was serving as the head coach of Texas Tech at the time.