John Calipari

In the one-and-done era of college basketball, John Calipari has found a way to turn five-star recruits into team players, and team players into NBA lottery picks. Arriving at the University of Kentucky in the spring of 2009, Coach Cal cemented his reputation as the best recruiter in the land. Top-ranked classes and conference titles soon followed as Calipari resurrected one of college basketball’s historic programs. In his first six seasons in Lexington, the Wildcats made four Final Four appearances including 2012 when Kentucky won the school’s eighth national championship. A former point guard and basketball lifer, Calipari studied under legendary coach Larry Brown at Kansas before finally making his way to the University of Massachusetts where in his first head coaching job he led the Minutemen to unprecedented success. After a brief flirtation with the NBA, Calipari landed at Memphis where his dribble-drive offense and player-first philosophy put another once proud program back on the map.