John Calipari knows a lot of change is coming to college basketball. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Despite his team’s struggles, John Calipari insisted again Monday night on his final weekly radio show that he “never lost hope” in his team.
“I am kind of grieving, despondent but I am trying to stay focused on where we go,” said Calipari.
Trying to figure out where to go is not as easy as it used to be. Just ask Calipari.
“The ground below us is kind of moving around a little bit,” Calipari said on his weekly radio show. “The way college basketball is now is going to change drastically in the next three to four years. My job is how do we stay ahead of the curve.
“What just happened, we have to make sure it does not happen again. What was the reasoning (for the 9-16 season)? We never connected enough so the team could be empowered. We had spurts but it never came to fruition.”
Calipari emphasized several times this was “not acceptable” but also noted it “had been a heck of a ride” at UK with a couple of glitches — 2013 NIT team and this season.
“Have some faith in what we do,” Calipari said. “This will all play out in the next three weeks to month to where we will know.”
Calipari noted how the expected new rule that will allow any player to transfer once without having to sit out a season will impact college basketball. So could the G-League with the way it put veteran players with the players who opted to not attend college their first year out of high school.
“Young guys did not have the weight of the world on their shoulders and that’s the best thing they could have done,” Calipari said. “Maybe now the top three, four, five players are going to go to the G-League.”
Calipari said that thinking will impact recruiting just like the new image and likeness accessibility will likely allow players to make money in ways college athletes have not been able to do before.
“How do you put a roster together with guys staying three, four years but integrate with other players (coming in). That’s going to be tricky,” Calipari said.
