The Smart player
The great Kentucky college basketball coach John Vincent Calipari hails from Moon, Pennsylvania, USA. He was himself a good college basketball player. He had a good understanding of the game. He might not have been so much of an athletic player, but he was a smart player.
His moves, maneuvers, and techniques were smart. He played for UNC-Wilmington, but not getting enough playing time, he moved back to Clarion. He did his bachelor’s degree in Marketing and also played ‘point guard’ at Clarion during 1981-82.
He was good at inspiring others. He used to write motivational quotes he liked on a paper and pin them to his dormitory’s wall. His teammate Joe Malis said that he liked one so much that he wrote it down for himself and still carries it to this day.
This quote was-
“Be careful of the words you speak, make them soft and sweet. You never know from day to day which ones you’ll have to eat.”
John Calipari had an entrepreneur in him. His basketball coach, Jerry DeGregorio remembers a college time incident. John Calipari had to move out of his dormitory room and shift to a trailer on a street just opposite their gym. John Calipari had to pay a huge sum for this trailer.
So he decided to purchase two trailers with the loan taken from his father. It was $ 2500 per piece. He stayed in one and rented out the other to a group of girls. He not only stayed cheap but also managed to earn money from the rent for his college fees.
He also repaid his father’s loan within a year. That was John Calipari from his young days-wise, mature and with a business mind.
The Family Man
John Calipari was born to Vince and Donna Mae Calipari. His father was a steelworker. He has two sisters. The older sister, Terri Calipari Geary owns an Orange Leaf frozen yogurt store in Florence, South Carolina.
His younger sister Lea Calipari Angeline resides in Snohomish, Washington. Each of them has 2 children. John Calipari had met his wife Sue Ellen Calipari at Kansas University where she worked as a secretary and John Calipari had joined as an assistant basketball coach.
After dating for nearly 3 years, the couple married on 22nd June 1986. The couple complements each other. Unlike her husband, Ellen prefers to be away from the limelight. They have 3 children.
The elder daughter, Erin Calipari has done her doctorate in Neuropharmacology from Wake Forest and has been married in November 2014. His second daughter, Megan Calipari has a bachelor’s from Cambridge University in Culinary Arts and is presently serving as a French pastry chef.
His youngest son, Bradley Calipari is studying at Kentucky University and is himself a budding basketball player. John Calipari is very much attached to his family. He takes them out for dinners whenever he gets the time out of his busy schedule.
He remembers his close and extended family member’s birthdays and wishes and gifts them. He has family relations with his student trainees as well. His wife Ellen Calipari tries to remember birthdays of each player and bakes brownies and cookies for them on that day.
She once said:
“I don’t push myself to be another mom for them, but I feel like I want them to be comfortable here like a mom would be.”
When his mother Donna Mae Calipari passed away in November 2010 fighting cancer, he could sense what his father was going through on losing his partner of 54 years.
So he asked him to come and watch their tournaments, spend time and bond with his grandson so that his mind could be diverted from the present anguish and pain. Seeing his father enjoy and applaud his grandson and son, John Calipari said:
“It’s good stuff, it’s really good stuff,”
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