John Calipari has a very simple objective for his players each season.
The individual awards, the team success, being selected in the NBA Draft, those things are all nice, but they are nothing more than a byproduct of his central aim.
“My goal, as I coach, is to have people watch a player play from his hometown or his family and have them say this: I cannot believe that's the same guy,” Calipari said.
Coach Cal's players arrive on campus with remarkable gifts. They have high-school All-America credentials, mock-draft hype and games that have made them fodder for countless YouTube videos. They've been showered with attention for eye-popping statistics and highlight reel plays, but by the time March rolls around, Calipari wants them to be known for a very different set of reasons.
Walter Cornett, of Glendale, Kentucky, is the owner and operator of Walter's Wildcat World. He founded WildcatWorld.com in 1998 making it one of the oldest Kentucky basketball fan sites in operation today.