LEXINGTON — John Calipari says he was just trying to follow in the footsteps of former Indiana coach Bobby Knight — who has been a huge Calipari critic in recent years — when he lobbied for the Kentucky-Indiana series to be played at neutral sites.
“I wanted to do what Bobby Knight did, and what he did was he decided the series should be neutral and when it was, it was huge with the Battle of the Flags and all those other things. He was the first one who made it neutral. I liked the idea because we had to move someone neutral and it was logical to be them,” Calipari said Tuesday. “We couldn’t find a place in Kentucky (for the games), so to make it more beneficial to them we told them we would make it two years in your state. We are not having anything more than two-year contracts, because of the flux of our program.”
That offer to return the series to neutral sites was rejected and the annual UK-Indiana series has ended after last year’s buzzer-beating win by the Hoosiers in Bloomington that resulted in a court-storming by happy fans. Indiana countered with an offer to play two years at a neutral site and then a two-year home-and-home deal that UK rejected which set off a flurry of criticism nationally of UK¿and Calipari.
“When we schedule we schedule it for us, ‘Well, schedule it for America!’ We don’t schedule for America, we schedule for us,” Calipari said.
He went on to note that former UK¿coach Adolph Rupp played eight neutral site games across the country in 1948 to make UK¿a national program, and that both former UK¿coaches Rick Pitino and Tubby Smith bought into neutral site games and played them annually. He explained how UK was one of few programs that could go to “football stadiums” to play and fill the site with fans.
“We are one of the few who can go to football stadiums during the regular season. ‘Well why would you do that?’ Because we can and no one else can. ‘Well you can’t do that because it’s different and would make the purists mad.’ I am not scheduling for the purists, I’m scheduling for my basketball team,” the Kentucky coach said.
“So neutral games are good, now we are going to play a home game that will get us ready for the SEC tournament and a road game that will get us ready for the SEC league play. We are going to have 18 league games which include Missouri and Texas A&M, two NCAA tournament teams and we have a Big East game. So what we are doing is what is right for our program.”
He said he told Indiana coach Tom Crean, a long-time friend, to “move on” from the UK-Indiana scheduling controversy. He said Louisville, Indiana and North Carolina don’t play each other and really have no reasons why they don’t. Calipari said he wanted to play Indiana and does not “know why we are not playing” any more.
He also didn’t buy Indiana’s theory that neutral site games in Indianapolis would be unfair to students who wanted to attend the game.
“They’re only two hours away. Are they that poor? They couldn’t get to that building? Our students are going. Ours would go up there. Again, I’m not scheduling for anybody else, I’m scheduling for us,” Calipari said. “You guys (in the media) would say, ‘Well it’s about the regular season, not about postseason.’ You think that’s true here? You could write the story all you want. Do you think that’s true? You lose to Louisville and North Carolina and win the national title, how do you think they’re feeling?”
However, Calipari wasn’t through talking about Kentucky-Indiana.
“I am scheduling for us. Not anybody else,” the Kentucky coach said. “We offered a two-year schedule in their state. I wasn’t mad or mean. We have got North Carolina back on the schedule (in 2013). We are having a dialogue with Duke. You have no idea how bad I want to do a tripleheader (with women’s basketball and football) and just overrun a city.”
He said other basketball coaches like the idea of a tripleheader and he’s already talked to a “couple of teams” about tripleheaders that would have to be in November when the UK¿football team has an open SEC date and a neutral site is available.
“It’s not easy or everybody would play tripleheaders,” Calipari said.
He said UK football coach Joker Phillips told him just “not to make it Notre Dame” when lining up a tripleheader.
“We want to be ahead of the curve. We want to be doing things. And if it’s not able to do it with certain schools then you do it with other schools and that’s how we’re doing it,” Calipari said.
“I wanted to do what Bobby Knight did, and what he did was he decided the series should be neutral and when it was, it was huge with the Battle of the Flags and all those other things. He was the first one who made it neutral. I liked the idea because we had to move someone neutral and it was logical to be them,” Calipari said Tuesday. “We couldn’t find a place in Kentucky (for the games), so to make it more beneficial to them we told them we would make it two years in your state. We are not having anything more than two-year contracts, because of the flux of our program.”
That offer to return the series to neutral sites was rejected and the annual UK-Indiana series has ended after last year’s buzzer-beating win by the Hoosiers in Bloomington that resulted in a court-storming by happy fans. Indiana countered with an offer to play two years at a neutral site and then a two-year home-and-home deal that UK rejected which set off a flurry of criticism nationally of UK¿and Calipari.
“When we schedule we schedule it for us, ‘Well, schedule it for America!’ We don’t schedule for America, we schedule for us,” Calipari said.
He went on to note that former UK¿coach Adolph Rupp played eight neutral site games across the country in 1948 to make UK¿a national program, and that both former UK¿coaches Rick Pitino and Tubby Smith bought into neutral site games and played them annually. He explained how UK was one of few programs that could go to “football stadiums” to play and fill the site with fans.
“We are one of the few who can go to football stadiums during the regular season. ‘Well why would you do that?’ Because we can and no one else can. ‘Well you can’t do that because it’s different and would make the purists mad.’ I am not scheduling for the purists, I’m scheduling for my basketball team,” the Kentucky coach said.
“So neutral games are good, now we are going to play a home game that will get us ready for the SEC tournament and a road game that will get us ready for the SEC league play. We are going to have 18 league games which include Missouri and Texas A&M, two NCAA tournament teams and we have a Big East game. So what we are doing is what is right for our program.”
He said he told Indiana coach Tom Crean, a long-time friend, to “move on” from the UK-Indiana scheduling controversy. He said Louisville, Indiana and North Carolina don’t play each other and really have no reasons why they don’t. Calipari said he wanted to play Indiana and does not “know why we are not playing” any more.
He also didn’t buy Indiana’s theory that neutral site games in Indianapolis would be unfair to students who wanted to attend the game.
“They’re only two hours away. Are they that poor? They couldn’t get to that building? Our students are going. Ours would go up there. Again, I’m not scheduling for anybody else, I’m scheduling for us,” Calipari said. “You guys (in the media) would say, ‘Well it’s about the regular season, not about postseason.’ You think that’s true here? You could write the story all you want. Do you think that’s true? You lose to Louisville and North Carolina and win the national title, how do you think they’re feeling?”
However, Calipari wasn’t through talking about Kentucky-Indiana.
“I am scheduling for us. Not anybody else,” the Kentucky coach said. “We offered a two-year schedule in their state. I wasn’t mad or mean. We have got North Carolina back on the schedule (in 2013). We are having a dialogue with Duke. You have no idea how bad I want to do a tripleheader (with women’s basketball and football) and just overrun a city.”
He said other basketball coaches like the idea of a tripleheader and he’s already talked to a “couple of teams” about tripleheaders that would have to be in November when the UK¿football team has an open SEC date and a neutral site is available.
“It’s not easy or everybody would play tripleheaders,” Calipari said.
He said UK football coach Joker Phillips told him just “not to make it Notre Dame” when lining up a tripleheader.
“We want to be ahead of the curve. We want to be doing things. And if it’s not able to do it with certain schools then you do it with other schools and that’s how we’re doing it,” Calipari said.
