Even when he’s not recruiting, University of Kentucky head basketball coach John Calipari is still recruiting.
It’s no secret that Calipari has become hands down the best collegiate recruiter in the nation. Over the past 5 years, he has somehow reeled in top ranked recruiting classes at both Memphis and Kentucky and has sent numerous players to the NBA like Derrick Rose, Tyreke Evans, John Wall, and Anthony Davis in recent seasons.
In addition, now that Coach Cal has finally won is first NCAA National Title last year, many would probably think that he would enjoy some of his success and rest on his laurels for a bit but the exact opposite is the case.
It’s also a well known fact that the music industry is one crucial way of getting through to throngs of adolescent teenagers that just happen to be elite level college basketball recruits. That’s part of the reason why Calipari has an established tie to hip-hop icons Drake and Jay-Z over the years.
Just recently, Drake was an honorary coach, along with John Wall, at the annual UK Alumni Game and was spotted in photos with potential Kentucky signee and #1 rated HS player Julius Randle on the Wildcats’ campus. Cal also has a relationship with Jay-Z that goes back to his days as the NJ Nets coach more than a decade ago.
Jay-Z got Cal and the Wildcats in a bit of hot water two seasons ago when he went into the Kentucky Wildcats’ locker room at an NCAA Tourney game in Newark to congratulate the team’s victory and clinching a spot in the Final Four. As a part owner of an NBA franchise, that’s a no-no and led to a $50,000 fine levied by the NBA for associating with potential draftees.
Kentucky will play Maryland in the first NCAA basketball game at the Barclays Center in early November.
That’s why it comes to no surprise that Cal was spotted along with Magic Johnson and Brooklyn Nets head coach Avery Johnson soaking in all of the hip-hop flavor and Brooklyn pride on display as Jay-Z officially opened up the Nets new arena, the Barclays Center, with the first of 8 consecutive nights of sell-out concerts. HOV brought the house down with an amazing lightshow, brought out BK born hip-hop icon Big Daddy Kane, while torching the mic with some of his most well known hits like “Streets Is Watching”, all while donning a new Nets jersey…….
Jay-Z’s Opening the Barclays Center:
Coach Cal With Magic Johnson:
Coach Cal With Nets Coach Avery Johnson:
Allen Moll has been a lifelong NBA and NCAA College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously, and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen has also provided content to Bleacherreport.com, Upperdeckblog.com, Cleveland.com, CSN Philly.com, Buckets Magazine, in addition to being a tenured NBA and NCAA columnist for TheHoopDoctors.com.
