Rick Pitino brought his larger than life persona to Lexington to rebuild a once proud Program from ashes.  His seemingly insatiable drive, motivational abilities, and quips to the media brought flair and an almost instant credibilty to a program in dire need of it.  His ego and penchant for promotion worked wonders for Kentucky basketball, although off the court, Pitino preferred to be out of reach of the commoners.

Tubby Smith was as big a humanitarian and as down to earth as a person could be.  Tubby seemed so humble and free of ego that it possibly worked against his success as UK Head Coach.  Kentucky fans watched over a ten year span as he strung together 263 wins, won a national title, made three additional trips to the elite eight, put together an undefeated season in conference play, and was tremendous off-court in his efforts to better the community, yet one could argue that his very nature downplayed these achievements, and the sparkle from the glory of the 90’s became a bit subdued.

Early on, John Calipari appears to share just the right combination of qualities with these former coaches to yield maximum success.  Cal has enough ego to feel comfortable in the spotlight at all times, yet the humility to admit when he commits a faux pas.  He is enough showman to come up with innovative ways to promote UK basketball (and other UK programs), yet seems unpretentious enough to mingle with people from all walks of life in a variety of  settings.  Above all, much unlike his immediate predecessor, he seems to have a genuine understanding of the role the Kentucky Men’s Basketball Coach must play and the importance of the program throughout the state.

So far, Cal has batted as close to 1.000 as a Kentucky coach possibly could.  Aside from the cool points he lost in 117 red counties out of the 120 in the state for sending a UK jersey to a democrat in the oval office, he has been nearly perfect. 

Cal started to win over the state with his slam dunk press conference at the Joe Craft Center announcing the beginning of his tenure as the new Head Coach at Kentucky.  Within 60 days on the job, he brought in arguably the best recruiting class in the history of college basketball.  As he said he would, he bought a house close to campus and downtown, and proceeded to immerse himself into the local community. 

Throughout the spring and summer, he seemed to graciously accept as many invitations as humanly possible to speaking engagements, social events, and charity fundraisers, charming all in attendance, be it the state legislature or the Garrard County Police Department, with his wit at the podium.  He has familiarized himself with Central Kentucky, patronizing numerous local restaurants and businesses, and getting a feel for the pulse of this rabid fan base.  He has travelled the state, shaking hands, kissing babies, and time and time again there are reports of Cal exhaustedly signing autographs and posing for photographs until no one is turned down.  On a national level, without coaching a game, he has already put Kentucky back in the spotlight, promoting the program through media interviews from coast to coast.

Is this guy for real?  Admittedly, I was not the biggest Calipari fan in the early to mid-nineties, when the young coach began to make his mark on college basketball.  As a Kentucky fan drunk on Rick Pitino’s flash and the program’s ascension back into the national spotlight,  Calipari seemed to me to be a coach who mimicked Pitino, aspired to be Pitino, but was nothing more than a poor man’s Pitino.  As a college basketball fan, however, you couldn’t help but take notice as Cal built his resume over two decades.  With nowhere near the resources of a Kentucky, he tookover two programs which were dead in the water and guided them both to national prominence.  Today, he appears to have Pitino’s best qualities and many more.

With only eight days left before the official start of Kentucky’s Calipari Era, the wait is almost over.  We shall soon see if indeed he is the perfect fit he appears to be in his first six months on the job.  Then again, as Cal himself will be the first to point out, any undefeated UK Basketball coach is going to be the most popular person in Lexington.