The three-time Naismith College Coach of the Year, John Calipari, who has been leading Kentucky Wildcats men’s basketball team since 2009, has recently shared his reflective and profound thoughts regarding Pittsburgh.
The NCAA Tournament’s first round will also feature a game, among many, between the Kentucky Wildcats and Oakland Golden Grizzlies. The game will be played at Pittsburgh’s PNC Arena. During a pregame press conference in Western Pennsylvania, the head coach revealed his Pittsburgh roots.
According to Awful Announcing, he shared, “How many of you are from Pittsburgh? Yinz? Downtown? I mean, come on, the crick. We had a crick in our backyard. My mom used to say, ‘red up.’ Like red up. What is red up? Like, clean up. Red up. Do you know what a gum band is? Like a rubber band? It was gum band. A pop? I never knew — they said, ‘Are you going to have a soda?’ What are you talking about? A pop.”
The head coach mentioned his opinions when he was asked regarding his time in Pittsburgh, as he was their assistant coach from 1985 to 1988. He further mentioned, “When I grew up, it was a blue collar town, but it’s never changed the roots of what Pittsburgh is and what it’s about. The Steelers are still — A. I call the the Stillers, as in Pittsburgh Stillers — they’re still a blue collar team with fans who love them. And, like, where I grew up, my high school teammates are still my best friends.”
Kentucky head coach John Calipari isn’t afraid to let his yinzer flag fly. pic.twitter.com/jznXNklugL
— Shelby Cassesse (@ShelbyCassesse) March 21, 2024
I’m lucky as hell to be from Pittsburgh https://t.co/ueh56XuxtT pic.twitter.com/tXtUIF0LXG
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) March 21, 2024
“They still come to games and they say, you know — anyway. But we were all brought up the same way. Our fathers were laborers. Mom raised us, and put hope and dreams and you can be whatever. That was mom. But we were all the same. It was a melting pot. You were taught, there’s nothing in this world that’s going to be given to you. You’re going to have to go take what you want, and if you don’t work, you will not eat. That was the famous line, you don’t work, you’re not eating. You work. If you want to be better than somebody, you better work. That’s Pittsburgh. And it was the greatest thing.”
The championship winning head coach was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015. The decorated collegiate coach is one of the top-notch head coaches, considering all the college clubs and currently occupies the twelfth spot on the NCAA Division I all-time winningest coach rankings.
