Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/8037
28 LIVEMAGS.NET MARCH>>10 ON MARCH, 30, 2009, the Kentucky Wildcats, the winningest program in men's college basketball history, made a deal with the devil. Or so says Bobby Knight. The story goes like this. After only two seasons as head coach, Billy Gillispie was fired by Kentucky for "philosophical differences." The philosophy in question: win percentage. His record at UK stood at 40-27, which is good, but his winning percentage explained the firing. At .675 it was nearly 100 points below the team's all- time mark. Kentucky wanted prominence. They not only desired wins by the fistful, but also the hype of being a team to watch, a Final Four shoe-in, a pre-season number one. On March 30 th they got their wish in one sweeping overture. They signed John Calipari, controversial head coach of Memphis who had turned the Tigers into a team of basketball gladiators and sent them all the way to the Final Four. In doing so, Kentucky signed on to a method of coaching and recruiting that has, in the eyes of Knight and others, blurred the line between progression and corrosion. The NBA's "One-and-Done" rule requiring all American athletes to attend college for at least one year before becoming eligible for the NBA draft is the underlying framework for Calipari's whirlwind system of recruitment, collegiate posturing and player promotion. On the one hand, it purports to give young players a little mentoring before they're thrown into the pros. And one year in college is better than none for the players who need to learn a few more life skills to compliment their jump shot. Right? In theory, yes, if the intention was to go to college to play basketball in the first place. If not, as in the case of O.J. Mayo who was recruited by USC and left no doubt that he'd go pro after a single season, college was purgatory, a place where he got mixed up with problems that he never wanted in the first place and never would have had if he'd been allowed to enter the draft out of high school. For those players, as they see it, One and Done kills a year of professional earning potential. This is where the problem exists. For coaches like Calipari who have the charisma to sell phenoms on the One and Done program, there is an onus to mentor those players through a year of school for which they may be underprepared. Sadly, though, it seldom works out that way, and Calipari's record with young players is abominable. It dates all the way back to his first head coaching gig at DANCING WITH THE WRITER>>TYLER ANDREWS DEVIL UMASS when, in 1996, he took the Minutemen to the Final Four but had his title vacated after Marcus Camby was found guilty of accepting bribes, to his most recent Final Four appearance with Memphis which was also vacated because of then freshman Derrick Rose's scandal surrounding grade forging. Calipari is the only coach to have lost a Final Four banner with two teams, and Kentucky knew this when they handed him the contract. It's too early to assess Calipari's success as a carrier of the UK coaching torch, but so far Kentucky fans are loving life. Calipari has unabashedly carried on his business as usual, recruiting a host of dynamite freshmen talent, like John Wall, and convincing NBA ready players to return for another season. In a few months of wheeling and dealing, UK went from a team that missed the NCAA tournament to a preseason number one, to a lock for the Final Four, and a tie with Kansas for the best record in basketball. Wall looks to be exactly the kind of leader who, even at age 18, can steel a team for a tournament run, and Kentucky has shown maturity and discipline on defense this year, two traits that separate them from Calipari's 08-09 Tigers. Perhaps this is a sign, however small, that Calipari is applying himself more diligently to the maturation of his young team. The problem Calipari and others face is one of insulation between players and people who look to profit from them. It's a problem within the One and Done system and, because it leaves so many casualties in its wake, it needs remedying. Coaches can and should do everything within their power to win, and they should trust that the system of higher education along with the support of the NBA should be a part of the mentoring process.