PHOTO: Arkansas HC John Calipari meets up with a former player and his wife during recruitment trip to Istanbul
Arkansas Razorbacks coach John Calipari was renowned for his ability to develop NBA-ready players during his tenure as coach of the Kentucky Wildcats. His reputation served as a major recruiting tool for the program.
The last two great Wildcats products that the charismatic coach managed to insert into the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft were Reed Sheppard, picked No. 3 by the Houston Rockets, and Rob Dillingham, picked No. 8 by the Minnesota Timberwolves via a trade with the San Antonio Spurs.
Calipari recently took his extensive recruitment tour to Europe, specifically Istanbul, Turkey. John Calipari posted a picture on X with his former Kentucky player Derek Willis and Derek's wife Keely, who live in the country.
"I’m in Istanbul recruiting. My former player, Derek Willis and his wife Keely met me for lunch. So proud of them. And they are having a baby!!!" he captioned the post.
How John Calipari almost recruited Kobe Bryant
Arkansas coach John Calipari has earned the title of college basketball's best recruiter for good reason, using all means to get the best prospects to play for his teams.
When he was the coach of the New Jersey Nets (Now Brooklyn Nets) between 1996 and 1999, he almost managed to change the trajectory of one of the best-ever NBA players, Kobe Bryant, who skipped college entirely to play in the NBA.
The Lakers had their eyes on Bryant and similar to their approach with Bronny James, they persuaded teams to avoid drafting Bryant via his agent Rich Paul.
While Calipari had interest in Bryant, rumors circulated that if Bryant didn't land with his preferred team, he would go to play basketball in Italy instead and the Nets used their No. 8 pick to select Kerry Kittles instead.
Former Nets general manager John Nash revealed in an interview with Sports Illustrated just how much Calipari wanted Bryant.
“John wanted to take Kobe Bryant in the [1996] draft,” said John Nash. “And he got faked out.”
John Calipari revealed to Sports Illustrated how the deal happened and expressed no regrets.
“Everybody knows I was talked out of that,” Calipari said. "But let me say this, the opportunity to coach Kerry Kittles, I wouldn't give up for anything. I love Kerry Kittles and I said at the time he'll be better than Kobe these first couple of years, but in five years, Kobe's going to be off the charts."
The near-miss of drafting Kobe Bryant shows Calipari's ability to spot elite talent early on and just how differently history could have played out with that pick.