Court session

The ESPN Tip-Off Marathon took over my Tuesday night, and it was wonderful. College basketball is officially back in full swing and all is right in the world—well, my world, at least.

The Big Ten came out with guns blazing and showed once again that they make up arguably the toughest conference in college hoops.

The Champions Classic featured No. 1 Kentucky versus No. 2 Michigan State, which was the earliest ever meeting between the nation’s top two teams, according to ESPN. I love a good upset, especially when it’s a Big Ten team doing the deed, but I love it even more when it’s Kentucky embarrassed at the end of the game. Maybe this is because of the “Wat shot,” which occurred on December 10, 2011—I have the date memorized and the enlarged picture of the ball leaving Christian Watford’s hands with seven tenths of a second left on the clock hung with pride in my apartment—but it’s probably more likely that a Kentucky loss makes me happy because I loathe John Calipari.

First of all, Calipari is a allegedly a cheater. Just Google his recruiting violations and you’ll have reading material for weeks. He apparently has a habit of racking up violations and leaving programs just before punishments are doled out (UMass and Memphis).

Calipari led UMass to the Final Four in 1996. However, when the NCAA discovered that one of his players had taken money and gifts from a sports agent, the team’s accomplishments had to be vacated. The university had to repay over $150,000 for NCAA tournament revenue. By the time this realization came about, Calipari had moved on to another program.

Memphis also had to vacate their Final Four appearance in 2008, along with all 38 wins throughout the season. It came to light that the standout freshman, Derrick Rose, had someone else take his SAT exam for him, which sealed his acceptance to the school. Rose and Calipari took care of the matter by paying $100,000 to avoid the impending lawsuit. Additionally, Calipari and athletic director, R.C. Johnson, “donated” the pay bumps they received from the Final Four performance to a school scholarship fund. Just like that, another scandal swept under the rug and Calipari moved on to another program.

From my perspective there are always one or two year players at Kentucky who are not student-athletes in the classic sense. They bide their time until they can enter the NBA. Players are required to be 19 and at least one year out of high school before they are eligible for the draft. So, because I have no respect for those players or the coach, I love when an honest team outplays them.

I understand that the players want to go on to notoriety and money, and that remaining at the collegiate level just increases a player’s chance for career-ending injuries. But there’s something about a program priming players for the pros that rubs me the wrong way. Every program has players that take off after a season or two, and I’d like to point out that before Victor Oladipo and Cody Zeller left Indiana for the draft, both attained degrees. It’s more fun to watch players with heart and ambition on and off the court rather than those whose only thought or desire is to be fast-tracked to the NBA.

Calipari said at the beginning of the season that the 2013-2014 Wildcats had tremendous potential to go undefeated this season, but that hasn’t happened since the ’76 Hoosiers, and likely won’t again. Haha, better luck next year, Coach Cal. That dream was shattered before it even got going. I hope all the Kentucky fans who bought the “40-0” shirts kept their receipts.

Calipari said that it “wasn’t fair” for his team of freshmen and sophomores to take on a team as solid as Michigan State just two games in. Quit whining, bro. That’s the program you choose to run.

In the meantime, Michigan State is the team to watch. They’re a solid contender for the 2014 title and will have a fantastic season leading up to that point.