John Calipari Quotes

I never thought Marquis Teague would leave after a year.

It's college basketball and there's a certain amount of uncertainty. As an assistant coach, you do the best job you can to win.

I call it, 'The Kentucky Effect.' Guys from Kentucky are usually drafted higher, and their shoe contracts are worth more. They're in more demand overall because they played here.

You see far more swings and misses on can't-miss football recruits than basketball blue chips.

An agent won't help you get drafted higher, won't make you win more games, and won't make you faster or stronger. They all say they can, but the people who do the drafting don't talk to agents. They talk to coaches, they watch film, they talk to the people who've worked with players. They don't talk to agents.

Guys are coming into the league a little more mature when they take the three or four years in college.

I enjoy working with players who want to work and I get more satisfaction with that than ready made teams or players.

I came to Indiana for one reason: I think you can win championships at Indiana.

I didn't realize the difference between coaching college and coaching the NBA. It's a totally different animal.

If you buy too many bad players, you don't last in this game.

Suarez and Neymar play the way they play because of him. They are great players but they are made greater by Messi.

I would love to join Big Blue Nation and play for Coach Calipari at Kentucky, and I would love to join my close friend Michael Porter Jr. and play for coach Cuonzo Martin at Missouri.

You got to worry about getting good damn coaches.

The better players you get, the better coach you are.

Every player that comes at Juventus becomes better; every player that comes wins trophies.

Working under Pep Guardiola, a chance like that doesn't come along too often. That's no disrespect to Mauricio Pochettino, but the people that Pep has worked with grow as players.

What I'm worried about is our team and our players developing and getting better. That's the most important thing.

Duke recruits the best basketball players. They don't recruit dunkers or highlight makers. They recruit good basketball players.

As a coach, we are not magicians; we work with the players and look to improve them and give them every opportunity, but if you are not creating or scoring goals over a consistent period of time, it is difficult for you as a coach.

Maurizio Sarri is one of those managers who can get the best out of players who aren't necessarily world class which he proved at Napoli.

It's not enough to buy good players, one has to develop a team.

It's a big deal to get to the NCAA Tournament.

Listen, we've drafted guys that wouldn't come in for workouts before. It's not the end of the world.

Every college coach I talk to won't say it on record, but everyone's thinking, 'Should I go to the league?' Because you don't have the same requirements. It's different. The hours are different.

It's part of the reason I went to Duke. Coach K came to me. He saw everything but the dunks. He was like, 'It's a dunk. It's two points. Who cares?' He saw every other part of my game that I wanted the world to see.