Kentucky Coach John Calipari said he spoke to Cam’Ron Fletcher on Wednesday night and clearly implied that the freshman would rejoin the team. There were also telephone conversations with Fletcher’s mother and high school coach.
“Everybody’s on board,” Calipari said Thursday. “They know this is the best thing for Cam.
“What I heard last night (presumably from Fletcher) is, ‘I got it. I understand it. I can promise you X, Y and Z.’ That was from him.”
Calipari said that he wanted a follow-up meeting with the player, his mother and high school coach in order to “make sure everyone understands: these are the expectations.”
Late in the game against North Carolina last weekend in which he played only two minutes, the telecast showed Fletcher being consoled on the sideline. After the game, Calipari lamented that a player would “cop an attitude.”
On Monday, Calipari posted on social media that he asked Fletcher to take time away from the team to decide his basketball future.
“With him, it was not one thing,” Calipari said Thursday. “And he knows it. ‘I’m asking you to change.’ . . .
“He’ll be back unless we have a call and it’s not what I think. You’ve got everybody around him thanking me.”
Fellow freshman Lance Ware said the UK players had spoken to Fletcher. “As a team, we all love Cam . . . ,” he said. “He brings great energy. He’s a great kid and I love Cam.”
------
During his radio show Monday night, Calipari suggested an ulterior motive behind the telecast of Saturday’s game at Louisville being moved from ESPN2 to ESPN.
“Why do you think they did that?” he said before responding to his own question. “They’re hoping, ‘Here’s (loss) number six.’”
The UK coach, who annually suggests that the NCAA tries to thwart Kentucky in its tournament seeding and/or bracketing, seemed to say that ESPN’s reason for moving the telecast could be a motivational tool for his players.
“We’ve got to ruin ESPN’s weekend,” Calipari said on the radio show. “That’s got to be our job. We’re going to ruin your weekend. We know why you put this on ESPN instead of ESPN2. You want more people to go to the execution! Well, we ain’t having it.”
When asked about exacting revenge on ESPN, freshman Lance Ware smiled. He then said the mere desire to win would be motivating.
Why did ESPN move the UK-U of L game? A football bowl game scheduled for that time slot on ESPN was canceled due to the coronavirus, spokesperson Anna Negron wrote in an email.
ESPN analyst Dick Vitale, who will work the UK-U of L game, laughed at Calipari’s suggestion of the network wanting to see Kentucky lose.
“We all know John,” Vitale said. “He’s the master psychologist. He can teach psychology at Harvard.”
But ESPN wanting Kentucky to lose? “C’mon, John,” Vitale said. “You can’t be serious.”
On Thursday, Calipari suggested another reason ESPN moved the game. In making the case that UK-U of L was still a big game even if neither team is ranked for the first time since 2007-08, he said it was moved “from ‘2’ to ESPN because people will want to see the rivalry of the game.”
------
Calipari is not unfamiliar with slow starts to a season. His first team at Memphis began the 2000-01 season by losing six of its first eight games. Those losses included games at Arkansas and Tennessee, plus a home game against Ole Miss.
Memphis finished with a 21-15 record.
Winning a game or two led to a turnaround, Calipari said. “I’ve just got to keep coaching and keep demanding.”
More recently, Calipari cited the victory at Arkansas last season as pivotal. The referees ejected the UK coach from that game.
Calipari cited an exchange with Ashton Hagans as he started to leave the floor and head to the locker room as significant.
“Ashton put his arm around me and said, ‘Coach, we got this,’” Calipari said. UK rallied to win the game.
“At that point we became empowered . . . ,” Calipari said. “I’m trying to do that (this season). It may take more time. I’ve had teams not get it till February.
“I’m not stopping. I’m not budging. I’m not cracking.”
------
In the preseason, U of L Coach Chris Mack made a tongue-in-cheek video saying he would do whatever was best for UK’s program rather than continue to ask that this year’s game be moved to a neutral site and then return to the home-and-home format when fans could attend.
Calipari said Thursday that he offered to postpone the game. But U of L wanted to play.
When asked Thursday if Calipari made such an offer, Mack said, “It’s not true. It’s just Cal being funny.”
------
— Dan Shulman and Dick Vitale will call the game for ESPN.
— Referees assigned to work the game are Ron Groover, Ted Valentine and Doug Shows.
