John Calipari and Bobby Knight have what you could call a contemptuous relationship.
The latest round of hostility began last April, when Knight said during a speaking engagement in Wabash, IN, that “Kentucky, year before last, started five players in the NCAA tournament games that had not been to class that semester. That’s that one and done philosophy”,video of which managed to find its way onto youtube and go viral.
Besides the fact that the statement was inaccurate, it was a point on contention given that Knight’s current job is as a college hoops commentator for ESPN. His distaste for Big Blue Nation became more obvious during the season as he refused to mention Coach Cal or the Kentucky team during the season.
Clearly, Coach Cal was not happy hearing any of this. And in typical Coach Cal fashion, he found a way to not-so-subtly take a shot at Knight.
Kentucky managed a team GPA of 3.12 during the spring semester, which includes the grades of the five players that left school early for the NBA Draft. In a statement released on Friday, Cal said “all this stuff bitter old men say that they don’t go to class, it’s not true.”
Bazing!
When I picture Cal saying this, he’s giving Knight the finger while wearing his national championship ring.
Now only if he wasn’t afraid to play Indiana at Assembly Hall ... (the streak continues!)
Rob Dauster is the editor of the college basketball website Ballin’ is a Habit. You can find him on twitter @robdauster.