Mark Cornelison/AP
John Calipari (l.) and Rick Pitino go back a long way and the Kentucky coach can escape mentor's shadow if Wildcats are able to deck Cards.
NEW ORLEANS - When Kentucky plays Louisville in the national semifinals Saturday at the Superdome, it will be more than the latest chapter in college basketballs most bitter rivalry.
The escalating tension between coaches Rick Pitino of Louisville and Kentuckys John Calipari has become more riveting than any episode of CBS Survivor and threatens to trump whats at stake in the biggest game ever between these two blood ri vals.
Pitino, 59, has built a Hall of Fame career by restoring Louisville, which had been reduced to second-class citizenship in the state, to its former glory. He accomplished this after rescuing Kentucky from the ashes of an NCAA scandal and returning it to hallowed ground.
Pitino is the first coach to take three different teams Providence, Kentucky and Louisville to the Final Four and has made six appearances there, winning a national championship with the Wildcats in 1996.
Calipari, 53, has also built his own empire, taking three teams UMass and Memphis and Kentucky to the Final Four for a total of four appearances (his first two visits were vacated due to use of an ineligible player).
Pitino and Calipari met when Pitino was a 20-year-old counselor at Five Star camp and Calipari was a camper. They became friends.
The two will always be tied because Pitino helped Calipari get his first head coaching job, recommending him to his alma mater, UMass, and then sealing the deal with a $ 5,000 donation.
Calipari was quick to thank Pitino for his help in 1996 before his UMass team played Kentucky in the national semifinals.
Now, he has told friends he learned the entire story was a fairy tale.
Calipari has always emulated Pitinos personality as a bench coach with his edgy approach, his passion and his Refuse to Lose attitude, but he never worked for Pitino and never had the appreciation for him that Billy Donovan has. Donovan played for Pitino at Providence and was on his staff at Kentucky before coaching Florida to a pair of national championships. With Calipari, however, there was never a sense of patriarchal respect or a debt owed.
The relationship deteriorated as Calipari evolved into the boy who would be king. This week, both have attempted to downplay their contentious relationship. But when Calipari held a press conference in Lexington, he refused to refer to Pitino by nam e, calling him, That guy.
Pitino was in public denial Thursday, claiming there was no animosity , just a competitive attitude. It intensified when Calipari took the Memphis job because the Tigers and Louisville were Conference USA rivals.
Same thing with Kentucky-Louisiville, Pitino said. John and I have the same relationship I have with Thad Matta (Ohio State) and Bill Self (Kansas). If we were at the Marriott in Vegas and we were recruiting, we would have lunch together, a beer together. Its not the relationship I have with Billy Donovan or Herb Sendek or Ralph Willard or Kevin Willard or Mick Cronin or any of the guys I hired and worked for me. Thats my inner circle.
Johns inner circle are Bruiser Flint and the young guy at UMass (Derek Kellogg) who did a great job. Really, theres no animosity. Were competitors. We want to win. We want to beat each other out for recruits. Thats the truth.
Whether Calipari wins his first national championshi p or surpasses Pitinos accomplishments in time, he may never receive the same adulation because everything he does will always be compared to what his mentor has already accomplished.
His meteoric rise from UMass to the Nets will always be compared to Pitinos jump from Providence to the Knicks. Caliparis success at Kentucky will always be compared to Pitinos three Final Four appearances with Big Blue and a national championship ring.
Kentucky is the prohibitive favorite to cut down the nets here. But Pitino, who finds himself looking in at the program he rescued, has the power to change the script and ruin Kentuckys dream season. That would be the worst nightmare ever for Big Blue nation, which has been battling paranoia ever since Saturday when Louisville defeated Florida in the West Region final.
It would be an even bigger nightmare for Calipari.
Twitter.com/NYDNDickWeiss
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