CRAWFORD | The Calipari Show is great theater, but he needs to nail another finale | Sports

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- It had been a while since we'd heard from Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari. He came with material.

Your typical summer news conference isn't much. Calipari came with copy for his Friday afternoon matinee. He doesn't know how his team is going to fare against international competition next month in Canada. He made sure to point out that Baylor went 1-3 in Canada last season.

"We could go 0-4," he said.

But the entertainment value will be 5-star. He not only dropped the name of Lil' Wayne, but dropped a lyric. He said he wasn't going to give away all of Kentucky's NIL secrets.

"I'm not going to share everything we do, because it's a competitive advantage here," he said. "Now, the reason I'm not sharing -- because I got a lot of people, 'How are you doing it?' Coaches. 'What are you guys doing?' By coming here, if you're a terrific player, what's added to your value is being at Kentucky. It's here. Lil' Wayne said to me — if you don't mind me dropping the name — he said 'I like how you just keep it in house what you do. It's like my lyric, 'Real G's stay silent, like lasagna.'"

I'm not sure what the big mystery about Kentucky basketball and NIL is. It's like former NFL star Randy Moss said — if you don't mind me dropping the name — straight cash homey. And, like Calipari said, there is added value in being from Kentucky. Putting on that jersey makes you marketable – especially if you're already pretty marketable to begin with.

Calipari is good. He's almost good enough to make you forget that he's won all of one NCAA Tournament game since 2019. That Kentucky is on its longest Final Four drought since the last days of Tubby Smith, matching the program's second longest since the tournament began. And that, while this team features the nation's top recruiting class, it likely isn't going to be a Top 10 team in the preseason, though the recent retention of Antonio Reeves and the addition of a couple of experienced transfers does improve the outlook significantly.

"I was never panicked about anything," Calipari said.

Calipari did confirm that talented freshman Aaron Bradshaw underwent foot surgery, but said he did so to ensure that he would get to play this season. He won't make the trip to Canada.

And did you happen to hear he has the top-ranked recruiting class? And how many are projected lottery picks? You did if you listened to all 30 minutes of Calipari's set on Friday.

You also heard some of the greatest hits.

Calipari, a marketing major in college, rolled out several catchy slogans in addition to his well-repeated, "silent like lasagna" line.

Be transformational, not transactional. This is the NIL pitch, and it's a good one. Worry less about the money than about the process, about growing, about becoming the kind of player who can make even more money.
Winning matters here. This is a nod to the fans. Justifiably, they're tired of hearing about all the draft picks without making it to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament. Calipari knows this. Inside that little mantra is a message to the fan base – "I hear you."
We're not changing. "I hear you," Calipari says, but don't expect his primary players-first message to change.

"I came in here in 2010 and I said this would be about players first," he said. "We're not changing. I know what's going on around us. But we're going to continue to recruit the best players, many of them will be young. This will be transformational, not transactional. The culture is not changing. ... Because it's worked. ... We're rolling."

Oh, and if you were a media member in attendance, there were the pop quizzes. Four of them, by my count, maybe 5 depending on how you count them.

He predicted more transfers in August. "Raise your hand if you have no idea what I'm talking about." Why? Because players were graduate over the summer and be eligible to find a new school.

Asked about how much of his system he'll have in before the Canada trip, Calipari sent the question back: "How much would you put in? What would you do defensively?"

Asked about speaking to members of congress as part of the NCAA's push for congressional oversight on NIL, Calipari asked, "Anybody out there that's a businessman, do you want government in your business?"

That question he answered himself. "No. But we're (the NCAA) asking government to get in our business. Can't we do some of this ourselves."

Answer: He's right. The NCAA can.

And finally, talking about players that weren't drafted, Calipari asked media members: "Do you know what an E-10 is?"

It's an Exhibit 10 contract, a one-year minimum salary contract that an NBA team enters into with a player, with an option to turn it into a two-way deal if it wants before the start of the season. It pays $75,000.

If you answered three of the questions right, congratulations. You're a Basketball Benny.

The Calipari Show is entertaining, even if it hasn't had the same kind of punch for the finales of Seasons 12-14. He's not in danger of getting canceled. But he and his talented young team will face some pressure to bring about a ratings rebound next March.