ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - As far as John Calipari is concerned, ’One and Done’ is old news at Kentucky.
He prefers to call it: “Succeed and Proceed.”
As promised, the Wildcats coach unveiled his new catchphrase Friday, the day before the Wildcats take on Wisconsin in the national semifinals.
“It will be on T-shirts,” Calipari promised.
He used the “bully pulpit” - his words - he was given as a Final Four coach to rail against the negative connotations of “One and Done.”
Since Calipari arrived at Kentucky in 2009, he has had 13 players drafted in the first round, and 11 of those stayed with the Wildcats just one year. He has five freshmen in this year’s starting lineup, a few of which are expected to leave after this season.
“The connotation built around ’One and Done’ is a bad thing,” he said. “It’s a negative thing, not used in other sports, not used in other areas of life. So for us, it’s ’Succeed and Proceed.’ ’Succeed and Proceed.’ You cannot proceed until you succeed.”
- Eddie Pells - https://twitter.com/epells
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