Kentucky head coach John Calipari hosted his inaugural episode of the 'Cal Cast' podcast on Tuesday. In the episode with Hall of Famer Charles Barkley, Cal responded to critics who call his style of coaching and recruiting -- i.e. recruiting the majority of his major players as one-and-done guys -- hurtful to the college basketball landscape. He did not mince his words when responding to the thought that all he cares about is the NBA Draft.
"You're full of crap," he said. "I care about winning. I care about building these kids. I care about preparing them for the future. But when a family has had generational poverty, and I can play a part in changing that for the rest of their lives, it makes me happy."
His coaching style has been widely scrutinized at Kentucky, where he has revolutionized the game with the help of those "one and done" players -- players who spend a year at Kentucky and make the leap to the NBA. The difficult part is recruiting these players, knowing they may never get their degrees -- with one thing on their mind: the NBA.
Calipari acknowledged the difficult line he must toe when coaching the type of players he does. On one hand, he wants kids to get an education. On the other, he knows they have the talent to make generational changes in their family with money as professionals.
"Some of them aren't [ready]," Calipari said about dealing with players who may not be prepared to go professional but choose to leave Kentucky. "But I have to let them go if they choose to. It's their life and their thing."
"If you're good enough, and you want to go to the NBA," Charles Barkley said, "Then go make that money."
Calipari also talked about Barkley's golf game, the state of the NBA, why his former players are not winning games in the NBA and more. You can listen to in the link below.
