Tag: John Calipari

John Calipari expecting draft date to move

Kentucky coach John Calipari, who coaches a group of NBA Draft picks every single year, says he expects that the date of the NBA Draft will move due to the coronavirus pandemic, and that players, therefore, should have more time to make decisions about entering the draft. As of now, the NBA Early Entry Eligibility Deadline is at 11:59 p.m. on April 26 and the Early Entry Entrant Withdrawal Deadline is at 5 p.m. on June 15. The Draft is slated for June 25 at Barclays Center.

“Guys that have a decision to make, …

There is no timetable on when teams …

There is no timetable on when teams will be able to have players in for individual workouts. And even when those workouts begin, what kind of shape will the players be in? “My worry is for guys,” Calipari said. “If they spend two months and don’t do anything and then try to go work out for an NBA team, it isn’t going to work out for them. There are no gyms, no health clubs, unless they have a gym in their house, none of them do. Unless they have a workout area in their home, none of them do, how are we doing this? So my worry about is more about that.”

My Boss Just Accidentally Broke My Heart – Can You Relate?

This is me informing you the Notre Dame fan that the gut-wrenching loss to Kentucky, the closest the Fighting Irish have ever been to a Final Four in my lifetime before losing their late lead and getting eliminated, is being re-aired by CBS Sports Network.

Sometimes the best intentions don’t yield the best results.  If you’ve ever worked for literally anyone besides yourself I’m sure you can relate when they happen to come from your boss so follow along for a minute.

I like to be as much of an open book as possible as I oversee Fighting Irish Wire, one of the 14 college wire sites that provide daily information and thoughts on some of the biggest collegiate athletic programs out there.

As you’re well-aware times are a bit different in terms of content on any sports site you visit.  There aren’t games to react to so many of us have gone the route of discussing classic games, former star players or we’ve been dipped our toes a bit more in categories we maybe didn’t do as much work in previously.

Let me start this by saying this: our boss Patrick is a great guy.  You get on the phone with him and your quick check-in turns into what feels like a visit with an old friend that you haven’t heard from in far too long.

However, Patrick broke my heart earlier today.  He didn’t do it intentionally but he still did it.  So I’m compelled to discuss it, here.

In his on-going efforts to help us create more content in a time where frankly, it can be difficult to, he pitched an idea for a post about an old Notre Dame NCAA Tournament game that will be re-aired this weekend.

That’s cool and all, watching Kentucky lose to Duke was enjoyable last weekend and I know hundreds of thousands of others nationally enjoyed seeing freshman Mike Jordan’s shot versus Georgetown from 1982, North Carolina State’s upset of Houston in ’83 and a few others that recently re-aired.

So which Notre Dame game did Patrick want us to let you know was being re-aired, you ask?

Notre Dame vs. Kentucky in the Midwest Regional Final from 2015.

Patrick, while I’m at it let me go load up Danny Ainge dribbling through the Irish defense to knock Notre Dame out of the tournament in 1981.

Then maybe I’ll throw in Boston College’s upset of Notre Dame’s national championship bound team of 1993 to derail that dream.

Then I’ll watch Reggie Bush shove Matt Leinart into the end zone to break my heart in 2005 and for good measure, I’ll check out the ridiculous pass interference call to end an unbeaten season in 2014 at defending national champion and then-number two Florida State.

So, per Patrick’s request:

This is me informing you the Notre Dame fan that the gut-wrenching loss to Kentucky, the closest the Fighting Irish have ever been to a Final Four in my lifetime before losing their late lead and getting eliminated, is being re-aired by CBS Sports Network.

So Saturday night at 8 p.m. ET, get to your television and turn on CBS Sports Network so you can watch Notre Dame’s heart-breaking loss again.

And for Patrick, my Kansas basketball loving boss –

I’ll be watching this on rewind until tip-off Saturday night:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXdxKN8PDZA&w=560&h=315]

 

John Calipari doesn’t believe the NBA Draft will happen as scheduled

The growing belief is that the NBA Draft will be pushed back from June 25 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari said on a conference call Tuesday that he doesn’t believe the 2020 NBA Draft will happen as scheduled on June 25.

With the NBA regular season suspended until further notice due to the coronavirus pandemic, many believe the NBA Draft will be pushed back until July or August.

As it stands now, the early entry deadline for underclassmen in the NBA Draft is 11:59 p.m. on April 26 with the withdrawal deadline set for 5 p.m. on June 15. Since the draft will likely be pushed back, Calipari believes those players should have additional time to make a decision.

“Guys that have a decision to make, whether they want to stay in the draft or not, the NBA is saying, ‘We’re keeping our date the same,'” Calipari said, according to Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog. “OK, well what about the Combine? That is going to move, we believe. Well, what about the draft date? That will move.

“My point to that in trying to get information to the NABC is, shouldn’t we move the decision date back for the kids to go to college or not? The date was always based on when the draft is, when the combine is. Well, that’s all moving so now I think these kids should have more time making that decision.”

Many around the league believe that the pre-draft process will severely be altered due to the coronavirus pandemic. Teams typically begin to ramp up pre-draft efforts after the NCAA Tournament but with practice facilities closed, the process is a bit murky for those involved.

There is no timetable for when teams may begin working out prospects and hosting group workouts but a decision on those activities will likely surface in the coming weeks.

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