Rick Pitino hopes Kentucky’s fans take it easy on John Calipari in his return to Lexington on Saturday night.
Pitino posted a video on X on Thursday on the matter and explained his reasoning behind it Friday as St. John’s prepared to host Windfall Saturday afternoon on the Garden.
“I believe some fans will boo him, but what I used to be hoping for was that a majority won’t boo him,” said Pitino, who coached at Kentucky for eight seasons from 1989-97. “I do know why they booed me — because I used to be coaching at Louisville. That was a unique scenario. John didn’t want to go away Kentucky. Each parties knew it was time for him to maneuver to a unique job, and he did. He didn’t want to go away. … Once I went in there, it was one in all the bottom points of my Louisville tenure. It was 23,000 people booing me.”
Calipari will return to Kentucky as the top coach at Arkansas.
In 15 seasons, he led the Wildcats to a national championship and 4 Final 4 berths.
They’re doing well without him under recent coach and former Pitino player Mark Pope, ranked twelfth within the country.
Calipari, meanwhile, may not even reach the NCAA Tournament in his first season because the Razorbacks’ coach.
Arkansas is next-to-last within the loaded SEC and has dropped six of its last seven games.
Brady Dunlap’s hopes of returning this season are over.
After attempting to rehab his torn abdominal muscle, the sophomore sharpshooter will undergo surgery Thursday.
He can begin understanding a month later and begin full basketball activities two months after that.
“Obviously, it’s my dream to play on a top-15 team,” Dunlap said. “It’s sort of why I got here here in the primary place, so it’s pretty disappointing. But at the identical time, I just have to take a look at it as positive from my personal perspective. I get one other yr in college with the medical redshirt. College is such an old game now, so I actually have to take it as a positive for myself and just cheer my guys on.”
CHECK OUT THE LATEST BIG EAST STANDINGS AND ST. JOHN’S STATS
Dunlap said he’s hopeful to be back next season at St. John’s.
“It’s really as much as Coach Pitino at this point,” he said.
Dunlap, a former four-star recruit from Newhall, Calif., also missed time with a torn UCL in his left thumb that required surgery and initially sidelined him in mid-December.
Rick Pitino hopes Kentucky’s fans take it easy on John Calipari in his return to Lexington on Saturday night.
Pitino posted a video on X on Thursday on the matter and explained his reasoning behind it Friday as St. John’s prepared to host Windfall Saturday afternoon on the Garden.
“I believe some fans will boo him, but what I used to be hoping for was that a majority won’t boo him,” said Pitino, who coached at Kentucky for eight seasons from 1989-97. “I do know why they booed me — because I used to be coaching at Louisville. That was a unique scenario. John didn’t want to go away Kentucky. Each parties knew it was time for him to maneuver to a unique job, and he did. He didn’t want to go away. … Once I went in there, it was one in all the bottom points of my Louisville tenure. It was 23,000 people booing me.”
Calipari will return to Kentucky as the top coach at Arkansas.
In 15 seasons, he led the Wildcats to a national championship and 4 Final 4 berths.
They’re doing well without him under recent coach and former Pitino player Mark Pope, ranked twelfth within the country.
Calipari, meanwhile, may not even reach the NCAA Tournament in his first season because the Razorbacks’ coach.
Arkansas is next-to-last within the loaded SEC and has dropped six of its last seven games.
Brady Dunlap’s hopes of returning this season are over.
After attempting to rehab his torn abdominal muscle, the sophomore sharpshooter will undergo surgery Thursday.
He can begin understanding a month later and begin full basketball activities two months after that.
“Obviously, it’s my dream to play on a top-15 team,” Dunlap said. “It’s sort of why I got here here in the primary place, so it’s pretty disappointing. But at the identical time, I just have to take a look at it as positive from my personal perspective. I get one other yr in college with the medical redshirt. College is such an old game now, so I actually have to take it as a positive for myself and just cheer my guys on.”
CHECK OUT THE LATEST BIG EAST STANDINGS AND ST. JOHN’S STATS
Dunlap said he’s hopeful to be back next season at St. John’s.
“It’s really as much as Coach Pitino at this point,” he said.
Dunlap, a former four-star recruit from Newhall, Calif., also missed time with a torn UCL in his left thumb that required surgery and initially sidelined him in mid-December.
