UK’s Calipari Tabbed College Basketball Coach of the Decade

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Underscored by more victories than any other coach or program over the last 10 seasons, more Final Four appearances, a record number of NBA Draft picks, and the 2012 national championship, John Calipari was named the College Basketball Coach of the Decade by Sporting News.

In a piece penned by national writer Mike DeCourcy, Sporting News credits Calipari for changing the college basketball landscape. Detailing Calipari’s success – what DeCourcy described as a “college basketball revolution” – DeCourcy wrote that “no one defined the 2010s in the same way as Calipari … nor achieved the same degree of consistent success.”

“I knew we were going to make the program — and I said it at the press conference — it was going to be a players-first program,” Calipari told the Sporting News. “We were going to make decisions based on them and their needs. And it’s not just about the name on the front. It’ll be about the name on the back. That’s how we’re going to do this.”

The distinction by Sporting News is hard to argue. One only needs to look at the numbers.

Now in his 11th season in 2019-20, Calipari owns more wins, more NCAA Tournament victories, more Final Four appearances, more Elite Eight berths and more Sweet 16 showings than any other coach since arriving at Kentucky.

With a 313-74 record at UK through last week’s game vs. Ohio State, he trails only the Baron of the Bluegrass, Adolph Rupp, in total wins as the head coach of the Wildcats. His winning percentage of .809 at Kentucky is only fractions behind Rupp’s pace through his first 387 games at UK, and he surpassed Rupp during the Wildcats’ 2019 Elite Eight run for the most NCAA Tournament victories (31) as Kentucky’s head coach. When he reached the 300-win mark at UK last season, he became the fourth-fastest coach to 300 wins at one program in NCAA history.

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer (first ballot) led Kentucky to a national championship and four Final Fours (2011, ’12, ’14 and ’15) in a five-season span, just the third coach (John Wooden and Mike Krzyzewski) in the history of college basketball to accomplish such a feat.

In addition to UK’s total wins under Calipari and its NCAA Tournament success, Calipari’s Kentucky teams have captured five regular-season Southeastern Conference championships and six SEC Tournament titles since 2010. They’ve won 30 games in five of the 10 seasons.

For his career, Calipari owns a 758-214 on-court record with six Final Four appearances heading into next week’s game vs. Louisville. When he reached career win No. 300, he became the fourth-fastest coach to get there, behind only Rupp, Jerry Tarkanian and Roy Williams. He’s one of only two coaches (Rick Pitino) to lead three different schools to a Final Four and he’s the only coach in NCAA Division I history with at least 189 victories at three different schools.

As someone who prides himself on helping young men reach their dreams, Calipari has helped 49 players earn selection in the NBA Draft during his college coaching career, including 38 in his first 10 drafts at Kentucky. The 38 picks over that 10-season span is more than any other school or coach.

Overall, he’s churned out 38 NBA draft picks, 29 first-rounders, three No. 1 overall selections, 13 top-10 picks and 21 lottery selections at Kentucky. Since the 2008 draft, 43 of Coach Cal’s players have been taken in the NBA Draft, including 31 first-rounders. Calipari has produced a top-10 pick in 12 straight drafts. No other school has had a first-rounder in each of the last 12 drafts. Included in Calipari’s NBA success are four No. 1 overall picks (Derrick Rose, Karl-Anthony Towns, John Wall and Anthony Davis). No other coach has had more than two No. 1 picks.