"Wife called and said 'not happening, you’re going tomorrow'": John Calipari says wife foiled his sneaky COVID test plan to skip SEC Media Days
Incoming Arkansas Razorbacks coach John Calipari took to the podium at this year's SEC media day on Tuesday and didn't try to hide he wasn't thrilled to be there. Joking with the media, Calipari said he took a COVID test the day prior, in the hope that he'd test positive and not be able to attend the media day.
"So yesterday, I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but I did a COVID test. Because I thought if I have COVID, I wouldn’t have to come,” Calipari said.
He then hilariously said his wife got wind of his intent and told him he had to go.
“My wife called me and said, ‘Not happening, you’re going tomorrow,'” the coach said.
Calipari explained why he didn't fancy the media days, having been to 16 of them, and how he believes it’s become less of a necessity to do them as much these days.
“So I’ve been to a lot of them and it’s something we have to do,” Calipari said. “And they were really important before because we had to promote our league in basketball. No one looked at us. Now, all of a sudden, we’re like it in basketball, too. So yeah, it’s not really changed.
"But the importance of it has always been, let’s get the word out. Let’s brag about each other. Brag about the coaches and the players. And really tell the story about what this has become."
Did John Calipari talk about his former team, Kentucky?
While addressing the media, the former Kentucky Wildcats coach made it clear that he wasn't interested in taking questions about his former team.
Instead, the Hall of Fame coach wanted to talk about the strength of the SEC this season and what his Razorbacks can offer going into the new year.
“Here’s what I would say to everybody,” Calipari said. “I’ve talked about why I did what I did, I’ve talked at length about it. So, what I want to do today is talk about the SEC.
"This league has gotten ridiculously hard. I want to talk about my team, my roster. But I’ve talked about all that (Kentucky) stuff. You can look it up and see what I’ve said, it’s going to be saying it over again."
You can watch John Calipari's full SEC media day presser below:
John Calipari and No. 16-ranked Arkansas will tip-off their 2024-25 season on Wednesday, Nov. 6, against Lipscomb.