Grantland.com has published an in-depth look at Kyle Wiltjer’s transfer from Kentucky and transformation into one of the elite forwards in NCAA basketball at Gonzaga. Also mentioned is a interesting phone call between Gonzaga’s head coach Mark Few and John Calipari.
In John Calipari’s blog post about Wiltjer’s transfer, Calipari mentioned that Kyle’s future path as a basketball professional is different than Anthony Davis’ or Darius Miller’s path. He also doubled-down on his efforts to support Wiltjer any way he can, transfer or not:
It hasn’t happened very often in my career, but transfers are a part of our game. My philosophy has always been to support the kid in whatever way I can and make sure he can still pursue his dreams, because ultimately that’s all I want for these young men.
Today’s Grantland article details the many coaches and players involved in helping Kyle transition to Gonzaga and develop into the most NBA-ready version of Kyle Wiltjer. This includes Mark Few, Canadian National Team general manager Steve Nash, Gonzaga star forward Kelly Olynyk and… John Calipari.
From the Grantland article:
On offense, Wiltjer had always struggled when smaller defenders switched onto him. “You feel like, I should be able to take advantage of this mismatch,” he says. “But a lot of times I couldn’t.” It’s not that he lacked the post-up moves to score over shorter players. Says Gonzaga coach Mark Few: “He’s always had a post game. When he decided to come here, John [Calipari] called me and told me, ‘The thing no one knows is that he’s a really great post scorer.’ They just never needed him to do that when he was at Kentucky.”
Calipari wasn’t lying, and Mark Few has used Wiltjer in the post to great effect this season. Kyle’s increased his 2-point shooting percentage this year to 53.8% with a combination of mid-range jumpers and post game.
John Calipari wrote that he’d support Wiltjer in whatever way he could. Coaches almost never call other coaches about transfers to assist the new coach into improving that player. That phone call to Mark Few is an example of Calipari’ actions reaffirming his Player’s First belief. It’s no wonder that in the Grantland article, Kyle and his father Greg Wiltjer were complimentary of Kyle’s experiences at Kentucky.
It’s been a pleasure to watch Kyle lead his Bulldogs to a 26-1 record. Only Kyle’s YouTube videos are more entertaining. I’m sure Big Blue Nation wishes the founding member of White Boy Academy success and victories. Until Kentucky vs. Gonzaga. (Sorry Kyle, business before pleasure.)
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