John Calipari finds yet another way to recruit.
John Calipari is expected to be named head coach of Team USA’s U-19 team for the upcoming World Championships, according to ESPN. Calipari has long been involved with international basketball, being a coach for Team USA in the mid-90’s and serving as head coach for the Dominican Republic in 2011 and 2012. The U-19 games usually feature a mix of high school and college talent, which gives Calipari plenty of opportunity to recruit.
Ever since taking over at Kentucky, Calipari has taken advantage of the NBA’s one-and-done system to turn Kentucky into the go-to stop-gap before jumping to the NBA. This massively helps him when recruiting players with the main goal of getting to the NBA as quickly as possible. As coach of USA’s U-19 team, this gives Calipari a chance to coach many of these players before they’ve even chosen a college. This connection Calipari has with players gives him an advantage in recruiting over many other coaches who’s only experience with these players comes in the conversations they’ve had with them.
Everything about this feels like classic Calipari. He’s always trying to stay one step ahead of his competitors on the recruiting trail. Everything about him from his persona, to the public comments he makes, comes back to giving him an advantage in getting the best talent available to Kentucky. Look at his Hall of Fame speech when he brought on every single player he helped reach the NBA on stage with him. That was a message to recruits everywhere. Calipari will get you to the NBA just like the rest of these guys.
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It’ll be interesting to see how much of this pays off for Kentucky. Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski has long been rumored to be using his time as Team USA head coach to win over recruits, but now Calipari has gone directly to the source at the U-19 level.