Markquis Nowell on John Calipari's apology for "little kid" comment: "It was a cool exchange"

We’re sorry to say this, Big Blue Nation, but it’s hard not to like Markquis Nowell.

The 5-foot-7 point guard for Kansas State lit up Kentucky during the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday, finishing with 27 points (23 coming in the second half alone), nine assists, and three steals in the 75-69 win. Nowell hit several deep three-pointers throughout the win-or-go-home game and picked the UK defense apart with his playmaking to help Kansas State advance to the Sweet 16, where the Wildcats will play Michigan State on Thursday night.

Nowell quickly became one of the early stars at the NCAA Tournament for his performance against Kentucky, but it was what happened after the game that kept him in the headlines. In the postgame press conference immediately after the loss, UK head coach John Calipari referred to Nowell as “the little kid”. It was a comment made in jest, but it understandably didn’t sit well with some Kansas State faithful, including one of the team’s assistant coaches.

As expected, Calipari quickly offered an apology to Nowell, contacting the undersized guard to make amends. Nowell tweeted on Tuesday that he and Calipari “are good” now following the exchange. But the story still doesn’t end there.

During Kansas State’s pre-Sweet 16 press conference on Wednesday, Nowell expanded on the conversation he had with the Kentucky head coach. Nowell even found a way to make a joke out of it, saying that he’s excited for Calipari to attend his Hall of Fame press conference one day, which drew plenty of laughter from the media.

“I spoke to Coach Cal,” Nowell said. “He DM’d me after the game and apologized for his comment that he wasn’t really thinking straight after the game. But he congratulated me on a good game, on a great game.

“We spoke after that, and he was just like, I congratulated him on his career and what he’s done at Kentucky and told him that I’d be happy to see him at the Hall of Fame one day. And he said, yeah, you’ll get there, too, because your passion and your hard work will get you there, and he wanted to stand at my press conference when I do get inducted. It was just a cool exchange. It was a cool exchange. Shout out to Coach Cal for reaching out to me. That was really big.”

.@MrNewYorkCityy said Coach Cal sent him a DM apologizing for his comment and congratulated him on a good game. He even said he'll be at his Hall of Fame presser one day 😂 pic.twitter.com/BhntDCG8fA

— Micaela Dea (@MicaelaDeaTV) March 22, 2023

Stop making us like you, Markquis.