ESPN’s Outside the Lines this Sunday will focus on John Calipari and the UK basketball players he did not bring back for this season. Here’s the publicity release:
Outside the Lines (Sunday, 9 a.m. ET, ESPN)
When John Calipari became Kentucky basketball coach this summer, he inherited a roster put together by his predecessor, Billy Gillispie. But Calipari needed roster room for his own recruits, including sensational freshman John Wall, and six of Gillispie’s players say they were encouraged to leave. Since athletic scholarships are renewed on an annual basis, the players had little recourse but to leave if they actually wanted to play, so they left. Some players tell Outside the Lines Calipari told them that they were unlikely to get much playing time in his system if they stayed. Several players said the dramatic roster turnover at Kentucky is an example of how coaches have little loyalty to returning student-athletes, especially when a new coach is hired. Kentucky officials say Calipari just wanted players who fit his style of play. Outside the Lines’ Tom Farrey examines Kentucky’s roster turnover under John Calipari.
“I thought I was going to finish my career there, graduate from UK.” — Kevin Galloway, guard, who left Kentucky after meeting with new coach John Calipari
“It hurt because I abided by the rules. I did everything I was supposed to. … Kept up a good GPA, went to class every day, didn’t fail any tests. …. I feel like just for following my part of the contract, they should follow theirs.” — Matt Pilgrim, forward, on feeling pressured to leave UK
“He was very clear and very honest that (some) may not fit this dribble-drive approach. …It’s a decision that they jointly made, that they might find more playing time elsewhere.” — Dr. Lee Todd Jr., president of the University of Kentucky, on what Calipari told players who eventually left
“If you talk to the average scholarship athlete, they believe they’re on a four-year scholarship or maybe a five-year scholarship. …. But the reality is, there’s no such thing as a four or five-year scholarship. There’s only a one-year renewable.” — Ramogi Huma, head of an advocacy group that lobbies the NCAA and government on behalf of athletes
This might be part of the reason for the strained relations between UK and the WWL at this point.
Wow. What amazing timing for this piece! Forde and Pitino at it again.
Certainly am liking the results! Hope one aspect of the report will be “he must have known what he was doing,” but i doubt it will be.
I don’t have a problem with ESPN doing a story on this topic as long as they do it fairly. If you are not good enough to play professionally, your top priority should be to get an education, period. Any kid who qualifies academically at UK can get a good education whether they are playing sports or not. It’s not even about the scholarship. There are plenty of grants and loans available for anyone serious about earning their degree. I feel for anyone who has to deal with a coaching change, but a coach is brought in to win games and do it while following the rules. Since the rules say a scholarship is granted annually and not for an entire 4 year period, that is the rule to follow. If we place this within the context of the classroon, any student who isn’t good enough to maintain a certain GPA loses their academic scholarship. Why then, would people make a big deal when a student on an athletic scholarship loses theirs if they can’t cut it on the court? Let’s face it, the previous two coaches are *previous* coaches because they could no longer recruit the talent needed to win at the highest level. Many of those who left the team shouldn’t have been on the team to begin with. Kids can choose to leave a school (and a team) anytime they want (just ask Alex Legion). The real shame would be if any of these “student-athletes” were denied their opportunity to continue on as students.
Note that not one of those quotes said a player was told his scholarship was being pulled. I am glad to hear that, and it tells me that the player made the decision for his own “selfish” reasons – and that is good. If he wants to play and the current coach says he won’t much, he should transfer. That is not what ESPN is implying though – ESPN wants you to conclude these kids were cut off. This is like the Tubby situation. He can’t stand the pressure and leaves, and we UK fans have to listen to crap about how we ran him off. He quit us. And these players left for their own goal of more playing time.
Seriously, what is different about this situation and any other where the coach says you don’t fit my style, you can stay, but you won’t likely play much? Or a situation where the player is on the team, sees he isn’t playing much, and transfers mid-season or end of season? This is a non-story but certainly with potential recruiting implications b/c of the spin it will take on ESPN.
Does anyone actually watch Outside the Lines? I will be in church and it is not usually worth recording. I am sure that they will run parts of it on Sportscenter all next week though.
If the players did not end up at other schools where they could play, then I would have a concern. But all are at other schools and my understanding was that Coach Cal was willing to help them find appropriate schools. If you want to say that Kentucky did not fulfill its 4 year obligation to the players then you can argue the same thing about some of the players. Galloway left USC and Pilgrim was also a transfer.
Players get “cut” from middle school, high school, and pro teams, so it can happen to college also. It is not something that most coaches enjoy doing. In the past (and maybe still today) some college coaches did some things to coerce players to leave the teams. That does not appear to be the case at UK.
I don’t have a problem with this because, face it, it was something Calipari was going to catch heat over. The timing is interesting, as thw WWL has turned up the heat on UK in the past couple of weeks. Of course, it has no trouble hyping our games to boost ratings.
Everyone has to see a villain, and to some people, that villian is John Calipari. We knew this when he was hired, so BBN will just have to develop thicker skin.
I think ESPN would be fine with any story by Charles Manson that bashes UK as long as it makes them money.
Does anyone think ESPN would waste time and money to produce this story if the ‘Cats were 9-5? Big Blue Nation understands that success for the ‘Cats does not translate to national respect; in fact, quite the contrary. Let’s just keep doing it on the floor and let the detractors flap their gums.
My son was on an athletic scholarship and a scholastic scholarship at another school. Both were one year scholarships and had to be renewed each year. Another son is on scholarship and now is getting a scholarship for his doctoral work. It’s also a one year review process.
Would anyone like to lay odds that both sides of the story will NOT be adequately represented, and this turns out to be another ESPN hatchet job? Outside the Lines used to be an entertaining, in depth look at sports issues and personalities, anymore it’s like a tabloid show. No doubt Calipari will come off as manipulative, UK will come off as evil, the fanbase will be seen as uncaring about anything but wins, and Bob Ley will sit with his best “tsk, tsk” look on, and any casual observer will come to the conclusion that we deserve all the hatred we endure.
The fact is that today, loyalty to anyone but yourself is an anachronism. It’s that way in business, and it’s that way in sports. Gone are the days when you work for the same company for your entire career, and gone are the days when you play JV your first year, warm the bench your second, and if you’re really good, get some real playing time your junior year. I’m not saying that it’s a good thing, mind you, but I am a realist, and if you’re a coach who’s being paid close to 4 mil a year to bring a program back to prominence, where should your allegience lie?
Here’s something else: Remember the dark days of probation? When Pitino (boo!, I mean, yay…oh, I don’t know WHAT I mean!) arrived LaRon Ellis was gone, Rex Chapman had turned pro, recruits suddenly decided to rethink their commitments. Where was their loyalty? I don’t see a lot of hue and cry for kids who reconsider their college choice because of a coaching change, or who transfer because they don’t feel they’re getting adequate playing time, or they don’t feel they fit into the system. ESPN will go only brief lip service, if that, to such circumstances. It’s a shame that a network with such obvious bias should be in such a position to influence its viewers under the guise of journalism.
But then, it’s also a shame that a hometown newspaper would employ two of the most biased “journalists” in their field, namely Jerry “make it up as you go along” Tipton, and Mark “whaaaaa! I wanna be Pat Forde” Story. So there you go. That’s why I get the bulk of my UK basketball information from the Advocate-Messinger. I get the story without the veiled accusations. But you’re OK, John, I mean, compared to the bozos referenced above. Happy New Year, and Go Cats!!!
oops! I misspelled “messenger”, didn’t I? Oh, Lawsy me!!!
BTW, “IKEA” is my anti-spam word. Are you selling them that space? If not, isn’t that a good idea? If you want to comment, you have to read an advertiser’s name, and type it in a box, thus insuring that they got thru to you. I soon expect to see “Cialis” or “Parkette Drive In” in that space. All I want is 50% for the idea, John.
Cats over UL by 9
It’s a two way street. Unless you’re going to require student athletes to play at the same school for four years and deny them the right to transfer or are going to require them to play four years prior to turning pro, then this is just the university looking out for the team’s best interest, just as the student athlete looks out for his. It will be interesting to see whether ESPN covers both sides of the story.
Furthermore, from everything I read and saw when Cal first got here, it appeared he was upfront and frank with the former players about their skill levels and potential for playing time going forward.
None of you folks are facing the fact that the man stole a recruiting class from the school he USED to work for.
If Memphis is so far ‘below’ you, why hire their coach…and essentially buy their recruiting class?
Calipari is pond scum.
Sadly, you folks will not believe it until he has left you on probation for his ‘dream job’ in the NBA.
What some of you do not know….he was leaving for his ‘dream job’ in Arizona before UK called.
I believe John Clay covered this topic when Billy Gillispie went into Rehab. Business is Business. Rupp and Hall were more ruthless than Coach Calamari. Either you have talent worthy of a scholarship or you do not. Hopefully, hopefully, all of the UK Players took their own entrance exams and abstain from hookers and bling. Regardless of the situation, the NBA knows talent and ESPN does not.
TO: EarthboundMisfit, are you kidding, the Head coaching job at Kentucky IS the dream job!!! he (Calipari) wanted it when he was at UMass,UK didn’t steal anything. Answer me this, lets say you have a job with a large lawfirm in Manhatten, you are the best litigator in the biz. you have won 90% of your cases and your employer is willing to make you a senior partner and practically hand you the keys to the firm but ALAS the biggest and best, most coveted lawfirm has called upon your services, they too are willing to make you a senior partner, and this is a firm you have dreamed about working for ever since you passed your bar exams! . . . . WHAT DO YOU DO??? I don’t know about you but after careful consideration I would bolt, few people in life get to do what they have ever really dreamed of, John Calipari worked hard for it, reached out and latched on to the brass ring and is about to turn it to gold. Just root for your team as we will root for ours, spit those sour grapes out of your mouth, nobody likes them ya know. UK has seen some pretty rough years, we have pride and we relish in victory as any school does. You and I both know it is our tradition that makes folks as yourself jealous, root a little harder for your team, get your state involved, ours is!!!
G O B I G B L U E !
Did Pilgrim not fail to honor the contract he had with Hampton? It is alright for him to leave a school but not for a school to tell him he can to play.
it is the duality of ESPN that I really find humorous…when UK was prepping for their game vs Drexel and the 2000th win celebration, ESPNU had two days of past UK games (all from the ESPN archives of course) including the miracle at Mardi Gras, to help promote the UK game and even carried a UK to 2000 insert at the top of the screen for the two days…and seeing as how the SEC and ESPN signed their agreement to show SEC games in bulk (and of course a multitude of UK games), it seems like planned “slamming” so that they won’t be accused of favoritism…but instead of being upset at all of the negativity, I kind of enjoy it…it shows fear of UK…when recruits get an earful from other schools recruiting talks, UK can (and sensing the crafty intelligence from Calipari) come in and show that the negative stuff is just jealousy…as it was with JWall when all of the verbiage came out that he was an attitude problem (only to find out that he’s a humble, hard-working, nice, intelligent superstud–with KENTUCKY written on his chest)…it’s only going to continue more…remember, we have 2002 wins–they had to come against somebody’s alma mater…let them keep reaching for straws as Calipari spins his silk…go Big Blue…
You know, Bobby Knight was right on… your coach IS an unethical scumbag! In case uK fans have forgotten, that’s Bobby Knight of WWL ESPN! Cal released players from Uk and continued “recruiting” Memphis’ signed/committed players while spending a few days “struggling” over his decision to leave. That’s a fact! Your current recruiting class was bought not earned leaving you with sort of an empty feeling doesn’t it? Memphis fans have no reason to be saddened by x’s departure especially with our 2010 no. 1 recruiting class. And just how is your recruiting going for next year Uk? Memphis Tigers fans, sour grapes?? Naa, we’re glad he’s gone! Tiger fans won’t fret over your future embarrassment of admitting that maybe hiring Cal was probably not a very good decision, especially when he moves to the NBA with his close friend LJ. THINK about it, then again, maybe that’s too much to ask!
Kentucky fans are ignorant & consanguinous hillbillies…always have been, always will be. Reading some of the above comments makes it crystal clear.
Go big blue, How about our new team this year, and memphis sucks