John Calipari – photo by Walter Cornett | WildcatWorld.com
Perhaps he is not quite a legend in his sport yet, but he is a deity in the state he currently calls home. If John Calipari asked for a flash mob to assemble at Rupp Arena at noon on Friday, businesses and schools would have to shut down. If he said he liked purple tulips, they’d arrive at his doorstep by the truckload. That’s why Mitch Barnhart — or whoever is the Kentucky athletic director when Calipari calls it quits — has the toughest job in college basketball. As his short-lived predecessor proved, being a successful UK coach takes more than just the ability to run a good offense. It’s about salesmanship and glad-handing, about showmanship and arrogance, about schmoozing the 90-year-old in rural Paris with the same fervor you’d use for the big donor in Lexington.
