John Calipari vows to schedule any team, anywhere following COVID cancellation

Kentucky was supposed to play an instate rival Wednesday night. Instead of hosting Louisville at Rupp Arena, the Wildcats scrambled to schedule Western Kentucky, defeating the Toppers 95-60 in Lexington. COVID-19 served as the catalyst, and the way things are trending, it’s likely that it will not be the last time Kentucky’s schedule will abruptly change this season.

There are currently more than 30 college basketball teams that have paused all activities due to COVID-19, including four from the ACC. If a UK opponent cancels on the Cats, John Calipari is ready to jump into action to find a new opponent.

“If there are teams that say they can’t come here and play, I’m going to try to get games. And if it’s — I’ll go from number one rank to number two rank, three rank, four — and we’ll go on the road. I don’t care,” he told Tom Leach during his postgame radio interview.

Monday night Calipari said he spoke with officials from Gonzaga, Texas and Ohio State before ultimately reaching an agreement with Western Kentucky that includes a $100,000 donation to the region that was battered by tornadoes. The Kentucky United tornado disaster relief fund has now raised $4,622,057 for the Red Cross. Wednesday night’s game served two purposes. It helped Kentuckians heal and it gave Calipari’s team exactly what it needed, competition.

After the loss to Notre Dame, Kentucky was reeling. They needed a feel good win and dug deep to deliver against North Carolina. The Wildcats needed to keep that momentum on the court rolling and that’s exactly what they got from this hastily scheduled game against WKU.

“We need to be playing,” said Calipari. “Teams are now figuring out you’re gonna have seven or eight and we’re playing with one coach. Let’s go. We got to play. That was one of the things I told these guys. Their team’s not playing. We are. Let’s stay healthy. And I can tell all you fans, if someone says we can’t play, I’m going to get games, even if we got to go on the road. Now they may not want to play us if they saw the last two games. There’s not many, I don’t care who they are, saying now we’re not playing you. But hopefully they say for the kids. Let’s get him in the gym and let him go.”

Hopefully Kentucky’s dominant performance against Western Kentucky does not deter any potential future last-minute opponents from scheduling the Cats following a Covid cancellation.