Thursday, seven Kentucky players declared early for the NBA draft. The Wildcats lost their top seven scorers, accounting for 64.6 of the 74.0 points per game the team averaged. All seven are expected to get drafted, four are expected to be first rounders, and one of the best teams in college basketball was absolutely gutted.
You'd think coach John Calipari would be devastated. He was just the coach of one of the best teams in college basketball history, a juggernaut that started the year 38-0, and yet he came away from it without a title. If his players stuck around, they'd be a year older and better, and might bring home the title they couldn't this year. Shouldn't he be absolutely crushed they're choosing to jump ship instead?
Nope. He was on stage laughing with them:
All seven players and Calipari at the table pic.twitter.com/z5PTEHbylC
— Tyler Thompson (@MrsTylerKSR) April 9, 2015
A lot of coaches would've tried to convince their stars to spend another year playing college basketball, because that would've helped their college basketball team win college basketball games.
John Calipari did not do this.
To be fair, we don't know if Coach Cal specifically urged his players to go pro. But in the past, he has done this again:
That had always been the case with Cal and his players -- "You have to do what's best for you." And when those opportunities came for them, to jump to the NBA or to play professionally (he said to do it).
By taking the decision out of his player's hands, Calipari's foresight salvaged [Dajuan] Wagner's career. The sixth overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft was discovered to suffer from ulcerative colitis just two seasons into his NBA career. Had Calipari not forced Wagner to take the riches of the NBA, Wagner's illness likely would have been discovered before he ever earned millions.
"I didn't want to leave this place," DeMarcus Cousins said Thursday. "I could stay here forever ... it was a hard decision."
...
While Calipari didn't answer questions on Thursday, Cousins said Calipari practically ordered him to enter the draft.
"He told me it's my time to go," Cousins said, then nodded his head vigorously later when a reporter asked if Calipari "pushed" him out.
Y'all ever watched DeMarcus Cousins play basketball, in the NBA or college? He had an opportunity to have that guy on an extra year and he actively sought to prevent that from happening, with nothing in return but an extra roster spot. That makes him either the worst talent scout ever or selfless.
People have literally criticized Calipari for caring too much about ensuring his players are successful and not enough about winning games for Kentucky.
"Calipari told ESPN's Heather Cox that Thursday night's draft success was "the biggest day in the history of Kentucky's program."...
"The dumbest thing I've ever heard," said Dan Issel, UK basketball's career scoring leader. [...] Issel did not sound upset. He sounded amused. "If the goal is to be a feeder team for the NBA, maybe that was the greatest day," Issel said. "I thought the goal was to win a national championship."
A professional basketball player is only capable of earning money to play basketball until their mid-30's. Calipari knows that every year a player spends playing for him for free, they're missing out on some of their brief window to capitalize on their immense talent. So Cal tells them to go make money while they can.
I know what you're going to say: Shouldn't Calipari be focused on getting his players an education? Isn't that what this is all about? What if basketball doesn't work out for these kids, and their career ends after just a few years -- won't they be out on the street with no valuable skills?
Well, Calipari told all his players that if and when they decide to return to college, they'll have academic scholarships waiting for them, even though their athletic eligibility will have been exhausted. He's willing to commit academic resources towards players who can no longer help his team. A human being is physically capable of taking college courses at any point in their life.
Of course, Cal benefits from this too. By spinning out top draft picks year after year after year, he builds a rep that makes Kentucky more appealing to the next round of elite prospects, which helps him win more games and make more money.
Every college coach is profiting off of the work of extremely talented teenagers. At least Calipari does so by promising those teenagers that he'll do what's best for their future, then following up on his promise.
If you have a problem with the one-and-done system, write a letter to the NBA. I mean, it won't change anything, but the NBA's age limit is a rule for the NBA by the NBA, and college basketball is just the unfortunate byproduct. John Calipari just exists within this system and does what's best for the players effected by it. That doesn't make him a villain. It makes him a good coach.
(Oh, and remember, just because coaches let players stay for four years doesn't mean they have their players' best interests in mind.)