SEC: John Calipari's Hall Of Fame Nod Is Overdue

Kentucky head coach John Calipari was announced as a finalist for the Hall of Fame last week. It’s a well-deserved honor that is actually past due.

Calipari is one of the greatest coaches currently in the game with a record of 579-125 when you take out the vacated victories. If you want to count those, add 42 more wins to the record. More importantly, Calipari has transcended the game.

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While being someone who has embraced the ridiculous one-and-done rule, he’s used it to his advantage. When people say he shouldn’t be recruiting these type of freshmen there’s a simple response. Why wouldn’t you recruit the best players in the country? Would you pass up on top tier talent just so you were looked at as someone who groomed kids into men for four years?

Calipari has taken a different angle and said he’ll get you ready for the NBA and life in just one. He’s also brutally honest when it comes to evaluating his players, there’s a reason someone like Terrence Jones came back for a sophomore year.

That’s exactly what Calipari has done with the likes of Marcus Camby, Derrick Rose, Tyreke Evans, John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Eric Bledsoe, Brandon Knight, Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Julius Randle. Just take a look at that list again from his time at UMass, Memphis and Kentucky. That’s not even mentioning a majority of players who are still in the NBA.

Whether you think he’s sleazy or the best coach in the world, there’s one thing you can’t argue. He knows how to get his team to play an innovative style of offense. Using the dribble-drive motion offense, he became known as the best point guard coach in the country.

This was a type of offense not used across the country and became tougher to stop with the more athletic players Calipari recruited. His ability to get insanely athletic players to come together and run this offense has made opposing coaches run zone, even when they aren’t a zone team.

While he was known as a point guard coach, it could be argued that Calipari is a better big man coach. The list of post players he has had throughout his run is just as impressive. Whether it was Camby, Cousins, Patrick Patterson, Nerlens Noel, Joey Dorsey or currently any of the four bigs, he’s made each player better by adding a dimension to their game.

His success at Kentucky is something that very few have seen before. In his first five years he took Kentucky to the Final Four three times, winning the national title in 2012 with arguably the best team in school history. He’s currently sitting at 26-0 on the season with again a team that could contend as the best not only in school history but of all-time.

If he wins a title with this team it’s hard to see him not automatically be elected to the Hall.

Again, this is an honor that is well overdue and well deserved. Whether you’re a Kentucky fan or not, sit back and watch one of the best coaches of all time work his magic.

Next: College Basketball Rankings: Top 25 Teams In America

SEC: John Calipari’s Hall Of Fame Nod Is Overdue

By Bobby Reagan | Feb 21, 2015

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