John Calipari will attend NBA Draft: "It's graduation night"

Coach Cal won’t just be attending the 2024 NBA Draft, he’ll be showing up in style to support Reed Sheppard, Rob Dillingham, Justin Edwards and Antonio Reeves — Kentucky‘s four projected selections — in Brooklyn. In an afternoon catch-up with Pat McAfee on ESPN, John Calipari joked that he is going to be the best-dressed man at the Barclays Center.

“I’m gonna wear chains and a wallet and a bracelet,” he said. “I’m coming — wait till you see the shoes! Oh my gosh.”

Calipari was clearly joking, playing off McAfee’s push for him to show up “looking so clean” wearing a top hat and a monocle, decked out from head to toe. He won’t be doing that — nor should he, because the night is not about him. It’s about the former Wildcats reaching their dreams, their hard work in Lexington together finally paying off.

But he did confirm he’ll be there and explained why.

“I’ll be at the draft tonight. ‘Why did you go?’ It’s graduation night and I’m gonna go watch the students walk across that stage,” Calipari said. “I’ve done it and I go get a hug, that’s part of the deal. ‘You’re coming with me, but when you get up on that stage, I better get a hug somewhere.’ I’ve had a ball doing it.”

Don’t pass on Calipari’s guards

Like he does every year, Coach Cal spoke on behalf of his guys, breaking down the four expected to hear their names called at some point over the next two days — Tre Mitchell being the fifth draft-eligible Wildcat on the outside looking in, ranked No. 85 in ESPN’s top 100 prospects.

He started big-picture with his four guards, lumping Edwards into that group. Talking to the ESPN audience, he told teams potentially listening they would regret passing on these kids.

“I’ve got basically four guards in this draft in Reed, Robert, Justin — who is a 6-8 guard — and Antonio. How do you pass on my guards? Do you want me to name the guards? How about they passed on (Tyrese) Maxey and (Immanuel) Quickley, I told them all, ‘Dudes, you are going to regret this.’ One went 20, one went 21. What? Now you have these four,” Calipari said.

First up, the guys who may hear their names called on Wednesday, but unlikely. They’re expected to wait until the second round begins Thursday — bad decisions by NBA GMs, says Calipari.

“Antonio Reeves, are you ready? Scores it at three levels, score 20 a game for one of my teams, which is really unusual. He’s 22,” he said. “Justin Edwards, upside. … Justin Edwards’ upside? Someone is gonna pass on him and in two years, three years look back and say, ‘Why’d we pass on him?'”

Two lottery picks came off the bench

And then the guys we’re all watching closely on Wednesday, likely as top-10 selections. He compared Dillingham to Allen Iverson while saying you know exactly what you’re getting in Sheppard, one of the safest picks to come through the draft in recent memory.

“We already know what Reed is doing,” Calipari said. “Robert Dillingham, I was on the phone with three different clubs today about Robert. ‘We know he can score, how can he defend?’ Here’s what I would say: I know he’ll fight because he and I almost got in a couple of fights, so I know he will fight. And if you’re willing to fight — yeah, you’ve got to gain 15-20 more pounds so you can hold your own, but he’ll slap and punch and bite. He’s a competitor, and he’s got the ability to score baskets like Allen Iverson. Reed made everybody (better) — look, what a pleasure it was to coach him for a year.”

And then the quote we all knew was coming, Coach Cal celebrating the fact that both players came off the bench for him despite being two of the best shooters not only in college basketball this season, but in Kentucky’s rich history.

“Do you understand those two are going to be lottery picks? And they came off the bench and never said anything!” Calipari said. “Everybody was on my ass, ‘What are you doing? This guy can’t coach anymore! He’s losing his mind!’ Well, I had a team to coach and I wanted to bring everybody together. That’s what I was doing.”

Historic individual seasons, no postseason team success, despite Coach Cal’s best efforts to ‘bring everybody together.’

What’s he got left in the tank?

Ironically enough, the Arkansas head coach was asked how much he had left in the tank down in Fayetteville, Calipari responding that he will be measuring the remainder of his time in college basketball by the number of families he can help — 30 is the goal.

At the end of the day, that’s how he wants to be remembered.

“What I don’t want on my tombstone is wins and championships, but that he just really helped a lot of families. I want to help like 30 more families, and then I’ll be done,” Calipari said. “And if I do this right, all that other stuff that the fans want and that I want, the winning and championships, that’ll happen if we’re helping a bunch of families. I don’t know how long that will be.

“I’ve always tried to be ahead, I’ve got a couple places so when I’m done, I don’t have to stay somewhere. I can go where I need to go. As long as I’m helping young people and helping families, changing lives that way, I kind of get inspired. … I’ve had a ball. I wasn’t ready to stop, but I was ready for, ‘Let me get this thing going.'”

He doesn’t know how much longer he has, but he does know he feels rejuvenated going into graduation night. It was the fresh start both sides needed, tonight officially bringing an end to the Calipari era in Lexington.

“15 unbelievable years, great friends, won a lot of games, did a lot of stuff,” he said. “I’m just as excited about doing this now, let’s see where this goes. You don’t know whether you’re gonna win or lose until you win or lose, so I’m not worried about it. All I’m doing is let me keep preparing these kids.”