I don’t envy John Calipari his job at all. You have to deal with the UK supporters who want the best talent in each class, but you also have to deal with the UK supporters who want you to recruit local talent – and Kentucky local talent hasn’t been the best talent in each class the past several years. Sure, you’ll see a Chane Behanan here and a Darius Miller there, but for the most part you’re seeing 2- and 3-star recruits coming out of Kentucky. It appears that is starting to change.
I remember reading an article sometime back that said if Calipari really wanted to leave a legacy, he’d do something about building local talent in Kentucky. Of course, Coach Cal is doing just that – [URL=”http://www.allkyhoops.com/2011/04/schedule-announced-for-john-caliparis.html”]holding satellite camps[/URL] throughout the state for young kids interested in learning basketball (kindergarten through 6th grade). And now we are getting reports from multiple sources (the one above is from Evan Daniels) that local talent in Kentucky is indeed improving.
Now, I’m not going to say that Kentucky’s 2014 class is really good because John Calipari got here last year – I’m sure those kids have been playing basketball longer than two years. But talent in Kentucky IS improving, and John Calipari IS teaching the game throughout the state. Maybe along with a few National Titles and Final Fours, the legacy of John Calipari will have something to do with helping Kentucky be a fertile recruiting ground for Division I basketball talent. That would be cool.
