John Calipari will not attend tonight's NBA Draft

The NBA Draft is John Calipari’s favorite night of the year, but this year, he cannot attend. Kentucky’s head basketball coach wrote on social media this morning that due to “reasons out of [his] control,” he won’t be at the Barclays Center tonight to cheer Isaiah Jackson and BJ Boston on.

“I have been at every NBA Draft for as long as I can remember to support our players on Graduation Day,” Calipari tweeted. “Unfortunately, tonight I will miss the draft for reasons out of my control.”

Jackson and his family will be in the Green Room tonight to hear his name called. Calipari is usually a fixture in the Green Room, waiting with families and making calls to do what he can to ensure his guys end up in the best possible spot.

“I called Isaiah Jackson this week to let him know. He understood but it was a really tough phone call for me because I really wanted to be there for him for his big day. I’ve been on the phone the last few days and I’ll be keeping a close eye on everything tonight and making phone calls as needed. Good luck to Isaiah, Brandon Boston Jr. and Olivier Sarr!”

Calipari also paid tribute to the Terrence Clarke, who died tragically in a car accident in April on his way home from a workout with Boston. Both signed with Klutch Sports days before the accident.

“I also want to take a moment this morning to remind everyone that this would have been Terrence Clarke’s big night as well,” Calipari said. “Not a day goes by that I don’t think about him, his mom, Osmine, and their family.

“I can only imagine how wide that smile of Terrence’s would have been hearing his name called. I’ve got a feeling he’ll be watching down on his teammates tonight and telling them to relax, enjoy the moment and have fun. That was the kind of person he was.”

I can only imagine how wide that smile of Terrence's would have been hearing his name called. I’ve got a feeling he’ll be watching down on his teammates tonight and telling them to relax, enjoy the moment and have fun. That was the kind of person he was.

— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) July 29, 2021

The draft starts at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and ESPN. ESPN will carry the second round. For the latest on when Jackson and Boston may hear their names called, I’ll refer you to Drew’s Mock Draft Tracker from yesterday.