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Tribune News Service
Tribune News Service
Sport
Ben Roberts

Calipari says UK hasn't been contacted in connection with federal investigation

Kentucky coach John Calipari said Thursday that his basketball program has not been contacted by federal authorities or the NCAA as part of the investigation into corruption in college basketball.

"We haven't been contacted. The NCAA hasn't contacted us," Calipari said at UK's media day. "We're going about our business of coaching this team."

The investigation has so far led to the arrests of assistant coaches at Auburn, Arizona, Oklahoma State and Southern California.

Rick Pitino has also been removed from his position as Louisville's head coach as a result of the investigation, though no one at Louisville has been charged in connection to the case. Former Louisville assistant coach David Padgett is now the Cardinals' acting head coach, and another Louisville assistant, Jordan Fair, was fired Wednesday.

Calipari was asked several questions about the investigation at the beginning of Thursday's press conference.

"Obviously, what's out there right now is a black eye," Calipari said. "I don't want to come across as uneducated or dumb, but none of us knows where this thing's going.

"At this point, I don't think me commenting without knowing all the facts is the right thing to do."

The UK coach said Thursday was not the day for him to jump head-first into the issue, though he did speak in broad terms on the future of college basketball in the wake of the ongoing federal investigation.

"At the end of the day, this is about the student-athlete," Calipari said. "If we make decisions about these kids and what's right for these kids, we're going to be right. If the NBA is worried about the NBA. If the NCAA is worried about the NCAA. If each individual institution is worried about themselves and the last thing we think about is these kids, we're going to make wrong decisions."

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