Many have said, including myself, that if Cal doesn’t win the championship this season he might not ever win one.
If Cal loses tonight, how does it affect his legacy?
[LEFT][COLOR=#000000][FONT=arial][I]But whatever the University of Kentucky coach and his fans may be saying, the final [URL=”http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/tap-dancing-trees-elephants-behind-the-wheel-and-the-ncaa-final/2012/04/01/gIQAB8WWpS_story.html”]game in New Orleans[/URL] matters plenty, and will shape his legacy. Calipari—a controversial figure in college basketball at a demanding blue-blood basketball school—may not need a championship ring to prove to himself he is a good coach. With one of the top [URL=”http://www.ukathletics.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/calipari_john00.html”]winning percentages[/URL] in the sport, a cast of [URL=”http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-leadership/kentucky-in-the-final-four-ncaa-tournament-begs-one-and-done-question-for-freshmen-basketball-stars/2012/03/28/gIQAPa6UgS_story.html”]players who are expected[/URL] to go first or early in the NBA draft, and three Final Four appearances with three different teams (even if two of them were “[URL=”http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/17212349/calipari-on-53rd-birthday-two-years-got-vacated-so-im-51/rss”]vacated[/URL]”), Calipari has done far more than many with his career.
Still, a win in Monday’s title game will be necessary to prove himself to everyone else. That includes the University of Kentucky, which is accustomed to winning basketball tournaments and expects his multi-million [URL=”http://msn.careerbuilder.com/Article/MSN-2968-Salaries-Promotions-10-of-the-highest-paid-college-basketball-coaches/”]contract[/URL]—the highest in the sport—to pay off. It includes NBA owners, who are surely eyeing how Calipari’s stock rises and falls based on Monday’s result as they consider him for open professional coaching jobs.
[URL=”http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-leadership/post/why-an-ncaa-tournament-win-matters-for-kentucky-wildcats-coach-john-calipari/2011/04/01/gIQA8GnzqS_blog.html?wprss=rss_on-leadership&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter”]Read the Entire Article[/URL]
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I don’t think Kentucky loses tonight but I can definitely see how it could affect how others look at Calipari’s career if the Wildcats somehow come up short tonight.
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