Coach Cal shows more class, doesn't fire back at Knight.

Since when was recruiting the most talented players "doing it the wrong way"? Since when was it a bad thing to help kids reach their dreams of playing in the NBA and winning with the best of talent? John Calipari runs a players-first program where he truly believes that kids should have fun and enjoy playing basketball together as a family. His players love him and he loves his players and helps them achieve their dreams more effectively than any coach in the college game. A player or administrator for any school that he has been with has never said a bad word about the guy. You will only hear criticism of Calipari from outsiders, the media, or from rival fans that don't really know the guy and simply refuse to look at the facts regarding him and his personal clean record with the NCAA.

I'm not just talking about at Kentucky, but with every school he has been at, Calipari continues to maintain great relationships with everyone he has worked with in his career. Memphis knew about the allegations of Derrick Rose cheating on the SAT, but still offered Calipari more money than Kentucky did for him to stay at Memphis. They knew that the coach was not involved in the scandal and begged him to stay. Fourteen years after leaving UMass for the NBA, Calipari still has a tremendous relationship with the school and still comes back to Amhurst to speak and help his former school, as he did this off season at a UMass Alumni Event. His Alma Matter, Clarion University, to this day also has a great relationship with Calipari and traveled to Rupp to play an exhibition game this year where the school's current President and Calipari's former coach honored him before the game.

Bob Knight's relationship with Indiana is non-existent since his firing. Perhaps, Bob Knight would still be coaching if he had just a fraction of the kindness, compassion, and selflessness that Calipari has shown to the people of Massachusetts, Memphis, and now Kentucky while touring all corners of the state since last April, from Pikeville to Paducah. Perhaps, if Knight was a players-first, fan friendly, coach who was active in the community and emphasized the importance of players having fun instead of being bullied, he would still be at Indiana. Instead of throwing chairs, choking players, and chastising the media and even his own University's administration (at both Indiana and Texas Tech), he would still be coaching somewhere. Bob Knight isn't exactly the right person to be pointing fingers on the subject of Integrity.

In the grand scheme of things, what are the most important aspects of running a successful major D-1 college basketball program with integrity? The model coach would put his players interests and futures above his own by running a players-first program focused on hard work, fun, togetherness, winning, and getting players to the next level and achieving their dreams. A model coach would be active in the community, a family man, a man of faith, and he would graduate over 90% of his players. He would tell a player to leave after one year and go to the NBA, if that is truly in that players' best interests, and he would also encourage that star player to come back and take summer classes while playing in the NBA to work on eventually obtaining his degree. All of these things encompass the values of John Calipari's program at Kentucky.

Togetherness, community, family, and fun are not exactly words that come to mind when describing Bob Knight. When running a program of integrity, are these aspects that we would want from a coach? Or is it better for our young athletes to be exposed to physical and verbal abuse to "toughen them up" or the immature misconduct that Knight exhibited on the sidelines for forty years? Knight's supporters will bring up his graduation rates. My response to them is that Calipari and many other coaches also have career graduation rates of over 90%. The only difference is that when they leave, they look back on their time with Coach Calipari with fond memories. Memories of happiness, togetherness, community, family, fun, wins, and championships. If only there were more coaches out there like Calipari, more student athletes would look back on their playing days with fond memories instead of horror stories of choking, chastising, embarrassment, and emotional pain.

John Clay wrote the following in today's Lexington Herald Leader, "But imagine the tables are turned, and it is John Calipari who is out of coaching and says, 'We've gotten into this situation where self-control is really lacking, and that's why I'm glad I'm not coaching. You see, we've got a coach at (Indiana/Texas Tech) who throws chairs, puts his hands on his players, berates administrators, and he's still coaching. I really don't understand that." Or, what if Calipari was at any school other than Kentucky? Would Knight have made the comments to an Indiana crowd if he wasn't UK's coach just after they demolished the Hoosiers a week ago? Are you still jealous of that one team you could hardly ever beat, Bobby?

I don't think I could put it in any better words than Mr. Clay. What is the real problem in college sports today, coaches like Calipari? Or coaches like Knight? Just for the sake of argument, let's say that Calipari was indeed involved in a few petty NCAA violations (Camby, Rose's brother forgetting to pay for a trip). Calipari has been cleared of any involvement, but even if he was, are these petty violations worse than the abuse of players? The SAT deal was not petty, but that was not even under Calipari's watch as he was in high school and uncommited to anyone! The NCAA needs to set its priorities straight in what's really best for college basketball and best for it's student athletes: a coach that will inspire them to achieve their dreams or a coach that will physically, mentally, and emotionally abuse them? Calipari chose the high road today by not criticizing Knight and his comments. Instead, he gave respect to Coach Knight and showed that he has too much class to stoop down to that level.

On February 13th, ESPN's College Gameday crew, including Bob Knight, comes to Lexington for the UK-Tennessee game. Coach Knight, you have a very, very long and frustrating day ahead of you with that Rupp Crowd right behind you during the Gameday broadcast. You will be chastised worse than you ever chastised any player, administrator, or referee. You're going to be as miserable that day as any player that ever played for you. But one positive thing comes out of all of this: it will certainly be very entertaining television on the morning and afternoon of February 13th at Rupp Arena.