UK Basketball: Calipari likes 'Kentucky effect'

It’s the Kentucky effect that brings in the top recruits. Even though Caliapri has always had a knack for recruiting, landing a coaching job like the one at Kentucky has elevated his status as a recruiter. Nine players —  seven first-rounders and two second-round selections  — have been drafted in his two-year tenure with the Wildcats.

He recruits players such as Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, who follows a trail of Calipari standouts who “are chasing greatness” while on campus. Kidd-Gilchrist is an example of the type of player Calipari likes to see wearing the blue and white.

“He just brings a burning desire to get better,” he said. “He was in the building last night like at 11 o'clock shooting.”

The Kentucky effect by Calipari’s definition means winning on and off the court and presiding over a “players first” program, which will be a priority as long as he’s coach of the team.

Calipari’s definition of a players first environment is one that prepares his players for the next level no matter what the duration of the stay of residence in Lexington. Whether it’s a one-and-done player or a four-year veteran, Calipari’s goal remains the same. During the season, it’s “about our team,” but, “The minute the season ends, it is about those individual players.”

“We give them information so they can make decisions on what they want to do,” he said. “I think, and again, you do right by these kids, they drag you to what you're trying to do, which is put up banners, and that's how I feel.”

Calipari isn’t one to influence a player for selfish reasons, either.

“I just don't do it that way,” he said. “And as this has happened, we encourage kids to chase their dreams. I told DeAndre (Liggins) I thought he should come back. He chose to leave. I'm for him. If that's what he wants to do, I'm for him.

“So that's the kind of decisions you make when you're about players first.”