![]() The eight-year Final Four drought at Kentucky has made the fan base antsy, and Calipari's lifetime contract (he has a $40 million buyout) did not stop the tweets and late-night phone calls to local radio stations calling for a change earlier this season. That perennial hunger for a national championship can fuel the support and also turn up the pressure on the leader of the program. In 2012, Calipari won a national title in his third season at a school that does not hold ceremonies for teams that only reach the Final Four. helped the program rally and secure a respectable seed in the NCAA tournament this year. 1 recruiting class in America, anchored by top 2023 prospect D.J. Those expectations have fueled the pressure-cooker that surrounds John Calipari - who "politely declined" ESPN's interview request for this story - as he prepares the sixth-seeded Wildcats to face 11-seed Providence on Friday, a year after losing to Saint Peter's in the first round and two years after an abysmal 9-16 campaign. "I was like, 'No, we play for Final Fours at Kentucky, and anything else is a disappointment.'" "I started to laugh because I thought it was a joke," Chapman said. To Kentuckians, Kentucky basketball is what the Dallas Cowboys are to Texans or what the Yankees are to New Yorkers. He grew up in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and he understood Kentucky basketball was second only to God, depending on the household. "Boys," he told his team, "this is what you're playing for."Īnd that's when Chapman, the only Kentucky native on the roster, began to chuckle. Inside, there were the five bejeweled Southwest Conference championship rings Sutton had won during his time at Arkansas. It was 1986 during his first practice with Kentucky, where he starred for two seasons before he was the eighth pick in the 1988 NBA draft.įormer coach Eddie Sutton had walked onto the Rupp Arena floor with a large jewelry box. LEXINGTON, Kentucky - Rex Chapman couldn't stop laughing. Men's College Basketball, Kentucky Wildcats John Calipari, a crucial NCAA tournament and the pressures of Kentucky basketball You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browser
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