None of his former assistants have made it beyond the first week of the NCAA Tournament as a head coach, and very few have been hired to lead power-conference programs. Hes been Caliparis longest-serving assistant by a wide margin, joining the head coach at all three of his college stops and being on staff for all six of Caliparis trips to the Final Four. After averaging 6.1 ppg as a junior that year, the son of John . He has written several books, including Bounce Back: Overcoming Setbacks to Succeed in Business and in Life (2009)[29] and Players First: Coaching from the Inside Out (2014). "I knew that when we had an opening, K.T. In 2008, Calipari's Tigers advanced to the national championship game, their first under his leadership. He kept the family together while housing was secured. The son struggled with injury and inefficiency there, however, and dad was fired. Kentucky went on to face Duke in the next round in one of the greatest games in college basketball history, won on a last-second shot by Christian Laettner. John G. Scott Drew, Mark Few, Eric Musselman and Brad Stevens. A relatively new NCAA rule allowed each schools head coach and all three of its assistants to be on the road recruiting at the same time, and Justus proved to be an invaluable asset to the Wildcats efforts in that area. Kentucky football recruiting: Cutter Boley, Lexington Christian Academy highly-touted QB, commits to Wildcats. Antigua brings to Kentucky nearly 20 years of college coaching experience. (Chris Kohley / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images). But I do think Kentucky would love to chat with at least three guys who entered the draft if the interest was mutual: Patrick Baldwin Jr. (Milwaukee), Matthew Mayer (Baylor) and Josh Minott (Memphis). After latest transfer portal miss, where does Kentucky men's basketball go from here? 19 Kentucky and Louisville match up with a game prediction, From UMass to Memphis to Kentucky, the Calipari coaching tree has yet to produce a star, The John Clay Podcast: Kentucky-Louisville basketball preview, Where to watch, how to follow Saturdays Kentucky mens basketball game vs. Louisville, By the numbers: Its not just Kentucky basketballs offense that needs work, First Scouting Report: UK will seek to spoil Kenny Paynes Rupp Arena return. Conference regular season champion [1] [32][33] Brad graduated from Kentucky in May 2019 with two remaining seasons of college eligibility, and chose to transfer to the University of Detroit Mercy (UDM) to complete his college playing career. [3] "I was blessed to have the chance. Calipari was named Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year in 1992, 1993, and 1996. Heath Schroyer, UNLV Rebels 1 of 15 If you're looking for a young coach with West Coast experience, look no further than UNLV assistant Heath Schroyer. LEXINGTON John Calipari is reportedly turning to a familiar face to shake up his Kentucky basketball coaching staff after an embarrassing 9-16 season. LEXINGTON, Ky. - Joe B. There was a time when folks wondered whether he might be the best high school player in the country. G Leagues revamped program that recruits, Rohrssen said in his introductory press conference at UK, was given the title of special assistant to the head coach, Support my work with a digital subscription. [4], In 1998, Antigua played for the Dominican Republic national team, which came close to representing the country in the Olympics and World championships for the first time in the history of its program. [5], The platoon system established under John Calipari not only provided life for the University of Kentucky's basketball team in 2014, but it also provided an important defensive weapon. Calipari stated, "Coming to UK was the easy part, it was leaving the city of Memphis that was the hard part." Two days later, in the National Championship game, Kentucky played in another early season rematch against the Kansas Jayhawks, winning a hard-fought contest 6759. The nine consecutive 20-win seasons and the nine consecutive postseason appearances would have been the most in school history, though that officially stands now at seven because of the vacated 200708 season. Where does Cal stand with Barnhart and the administration? Do you agree? But just say thats your policy and cut out the havent seen him thing. He was eventually promoted to assistant coach under Flint and later joined Caliparis first staff at Memphis, spending six seasons there before getting his first head coaching job at UTEP. K.T. Turner Named Assistant Men's Basketball Coach - UK Athletics Click below to read more of the Herald-Leaders and Kentucky.coms preview coverage ahead of Saturdays Kentucky-Louisville mens basketball game scheduled for a noon tip-off in Rupp Arena. Justus was a high school coach in North Carolina when he was hired by Calipari as the programs director of analytics before the 2014-15 season. Justus joined Kentucky for the 2014-15 season as director of analytics, then progressed to special assistant to the head coach before he was promoted to assistant coach, where he became an integral force in UK's recruiting efforts the last five seasons. LEXINGTON, Ky. John Calipari took a page from his past as he continues to fill out Kentucky 's coaching staff ahead of the 2023-24 season. Calipari thinks this is a funny little gag, and it is harmless, but fans clearly hate it. Just before the start of the 2016-17 season, Caliparis made Justus temporary promotion a permanent one. Calipari turned to longtime friend Barry Slice Rohrssen, who had previously been a Pittsburgh assistant coach and was well-known for his East Coast recruiting ties. Antigua also played on the Gauchos youth basketball team. According to Antigua, he rates meeting Nelson Mandela in South Africa as his favorite moment. [3] He received offers from various NBA teams to attend their camps and also received offers from European scouts, but instead he decided to sign a deal to play for the world-renowned Harlem Globetrotters. He left earlier this summer to become an assistant coach under Joe Mazzulla with the Boston Celtics. Though the case was dismissed[13] and Calipari apologized for his remarks,[12] he was still fined $25,000 by the NBA.[14]. Bruiser Flint joins timeline of Kentucky basketball assistants And every one of his 14 coaching staffs at Kentucky has featured at least one assistant that was with him at either UMass or Memphis. Flints name was mentioned in connection with the UK job even before Payne departed Lexington for a spot on the New York Knicks coaching staff, and the Philadelphia native will bring a wealth of experience as well as his pre-existing relationship with Calipari, who first hired the 55-year-old Flint at UMass more than 30 years ago. During the press conference, Calipari spoke at length about his relationships with former UK basketball players and coaches, and also in his difficulties in accepting the UK job, largely due to his deep emotional ties with both the city of Memphis and University of Memphis. Because the ETS had invalidated the test, the NCAA retroactively declared Rose ineligible. [8] On January 3, 2017, USF dismissed Antigua as their head coach. Reeves is a better all-around scorer than Davion Mintz. After his retirement from playing professional basketball he was named an assistant coach for the Pittsburgh Panthers, the Memphis Tigers, the Illinois Fighting Illini and the Kentucky Wildcats. Barbee went 82-52 in four seasons with the Miners, compiling a 15-1 league record and making the NCAA Tournament in year four. Who will be Kentucky's next assistant coach? How long will John The ETS sent three letters to Rose's family's former address in Chicago (instead of his dorm in Memphis) to ask that Rose verify some information on his test. Barbee was replaced by Bruce Pearl, and Calipari hired him for a non-assistant role at UK, spending one season in that spot before returning to the bench for Kentucky the following year. In 2008, he was named Naismith College Coach of the Year, receiving the honor for the second time. There definitely is some growing frustration in NBA circles that Sharpe, no doubt on the advice of his camp, has been unwilling to participate in anything that resembles actual basketball and be scrutinized before draft night. Jai Lucas is reportedly joining head coach Jon Scheyer's staff in Durham. That is some retirement plan. One, after the 2023-24 season, Caliparis latest contract says he can step down as coach, take over as a special assistant to the AD basically a university ambassador and still make a million bucks a year. He compiled a 155-137 record over nine years there, with a first-round loss in the 2014 NCAA Tournament marking the Minutemens only trip to the Big Dance in that span. Whats going on with Kentucky mens basketball recruiting? All Rights Reserved. Toppin, with another year to refine his freakish athleticism and no longer having to split time with Keion Brooks, could have a breakout senior season. Robic, a longtime friend and associate of the UK head coach, was given the title of special assistant to the head coach, and he remains an integral part of the Wildcats program, occupying a prime seat on the Kentucky bench and helping to oversee the teams game-planning and scouting of opponents. Lebanon High School under Joey David and worked as a sales representative for Cavanaugh Promotions in the North Hills. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Pastner went 167-73 in seven seasons at Memphis with four NCAA Tournament appearances and two trips to the round of 32 but he couldnt match the success Calipari had there, ultimately leaving for Georgia Tech. Strickland was demoted to an administrative role after a DUI arrest in Lexington following Caliparis first season at Kentucky, leaving a vacancy on the UK coaching staff. Brad is a former walk-on at UK who transferred to Detroit Mercy for the 2019-20 season and has been there for the last two seasons. (Memphis hired former UK coach Tubby Smith to replace Pastner). He was previously the head coach at the University of Massachusetts from 1988 to 1996, the NBA's New Jersey Nets from 1996 to 1999 and the University of Memphis from 2000 to 2009, and was the head coach of the Dominican Republic national team in 2011 and 2012. So thats a lot to work with. In his second season at Kentucky, Calipari recruited the No. This is kind of like what I'm coaching: We're winning, and I'm being even harder. His team, however, would lose to the Kansas Jayhawks, 7568, in overtime. Whether its out of concern about the state of the Kentucky program or a selfish motivation to fire figurative middle fingers at his haters from atop a ladder in March, Im thinking Calipari desperately wants to win big again.