LOOK: John Calipari visits ESPN headquarters in Bristol
Kentucky head coach John Calipari‘s preseason media tour has begun, starting with the Worldwide Leader in Sports. The three-time Naismith College Coach of the Year made the trip to Bristol to tour the ESPN facilities and catch up with some old friends while making a few appearances on radio and TV.
How did things go? See for yourself, as ESPN documented Calipari’s time at HQ from start to finish. Everything from hair and makeup to his SportsCenter interview to ESPN Radio hits to individual meetings to NFL Live to a leadership presentation and everything in between.
He capped things off with a segment on how to pronounce the Pittsburgh Steelers like a local.
Remember: Stillers, not Steelers.
Calipari on SportsCenter
Coach Cal hasn’t been in front of a microphone since Toronto when the Wildcats earned gold at the GLOBL JAM. Has his confidence changed about this group in the month-plus since?
Not in the slightest.
“My best teams have been young players, talented, with veterans who were also talented. And you mix them together. We have that this year,” Calipari said on SportsCenter. “We got good young players, good young guards, two seven-footers — they’ll tell you they’re 7-2. So we’ve got some size. I’m liking what I’m seeing. And more importantly, they’re really getting along together. So you’ve got a young group, but they’re really excited and it should be fun.”
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Kentucky becomes a Mamba Program (plus NIL talk)
How about his time with the ESPN Radio squad?
He discussed Kentucky’s selection as the first Mamba Program, hand-selected by Vanessa Bryant, and honoring the late Kobe Bryant.
As he touched on during his SportsCenter interview, Calipari also addressed some new thoughts on name, image and likeness.
“I worry, is NIL changing this where they think they’ve made it? Versus the grind, the work? I had to remind my guys — some of them are doing well with name, image and likeness. But the reality of it is we’ve got 14 guys in the NBA making $40 million a year. … This is nothing. If it changes your mentality, you’re screwing the kids. Let’s make sure we’re staying on that.”
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