John Calipari

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John Vincent Calipari (born February 10, 1959 in the Pittsburgh suburb of Moon Township, Pennsylvania, United States) is a college and pro basketball coach. He lettered two years at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington before transferring to Clarion State, where he graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Marketing. He played point guard at Clarion during the 1981 and 1982 seasons, leading the team in assists and free throw percentage. Calipari and his wife, Ellen, have two daughters, Erin Sue and Megan Rae, and a son, Bradley Vincent.

From 1982-85, he was an assistant coach at the University of Kansas under Ted Owens and then under Larry Brown. From 1985-88, he was an assistant coach at the University of Pittsburgh under Paul Evans. From 1988-96, he was head coach at the University of Massachusetts. From 1996-99, he was head coach and Executive VP of basketball operations for the NBA's New Jersey Nets. During the 2000 season, he was an assistant coach for the Philadelphia 76ers under coach Larry Brown. From 2000-present, he is the head coach of the University of Memphis. He was inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.

Contents 1 Collegiate Coaching Career 2 College Coaching History 3 NBA Coaching History 4 External links

[edit] Collegiate Coaching Career

In 14 seasons as a collegiate head coach, Calipari's record stands at 341-130 (.724). His record in March is 67-28 (.705). His record in the NCAA tournament is 15-8 (.652) and in the NIT is 15-5 (.750). He has made eight NCAA tournaments, the Sweet Sixteen four times, the Elite Eight three times, and the Final Four one time. He has made five NITs, with one championship at Memphis in 2002. He is one of only two coaches in NCAA Division I history to direct two different schools to a Number 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament; Roy Williams is the other.

Through 14 collegiate seasons, only North Carolina coach Roy Williams, Syracuse's Jim Boeheim, Kentucky's Tubby Smith, Arkansas' Nolan Richardson, and Louisville Hall of Fame coach Denny Crum have won more games than Calipari. He hit the 300-win mark in February of 2005 when his Tigers upset No. 9 Louisville 85-68 in Freedom Hall.

University of Massachusetts

From 1988-96 at UMass, Calipari led the Minuteman program to numerous wins, conference titles and NCAA Tournament appearances. He finished with an 193-71 record overall, with a 91-41 record in Atlantic 10 conference games. Calipari was named Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year in 1992, 1993, and 1996. He was also named the Naismith & Sporting News National Coach of the Year in 1996.

His passion to build a program helped accelerate the construction of the Mullins Center, UMass' basketball and hockey facility. Calipari's desire also reached out to eastern Massachusetts and Boston and brought fans back to Amherst -- located in the picturesque Pioneer Valley -- to watch a national powerhouse basketball team.

Calipari also encouraged his players to work toward earning their degrees, and many did graduate. He reached out to former UMass players and coaches, creating a bond between his squads and those of the past.

University of Memphis

In Calipari's first six years as head coach at Memphis, he has won 148 games, posted six straight 20-win seasons and earned six consecutive postseason bids. Calipari's 148 victories and 24.7 wins per year are the most by a Tiger mentor in his first six seasons. The six consecutive 20-win seasons are the most for the Tigers since 1982-89 and the six consecutive postseason appearances are the most since 1988-93. Calipari won his 100th game as the Memphis head coach midway through the 2004-05 season, reaching that milestone the second fastest of any Tiger mentor. He was named Conference USA Coach of the Year in 2006.

Calipari has been largely credited with not only revitalizing the Memphis program, but also re-energizing the city's love affair with Tiger basketball -- a relationship that is the very fabric of the Memphis community. He has built a national program by recruiting blue chip players from all across the country. In addition, he presided over the team as it moved from the Pyramid Arena to the FedExForum, which also houses the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies.

Calipari has also continued his tradition of developing student-athletes. Before Calipari arrived, Memphis basketball had a zero graduation rate. Since 2000-01, Calipari has had 9 of 14 seniors earn their degrees.

[edit] College Coaching History

School	Year	Overall Record	Conference Record	Postseason
UMass	1988-89	10-18	5-13	None
UMass	1989-90	17-14	10-8	NIT
UMass	1990-91	20-13	10-8	NIT Final Four
UMass	1991-92	30-5	13-3	Sweet 16
UMass	1992-93	24-7	11-3	2nd round
UMass	1993-94	28-7	14-2	2nd round
UMass	1994-95	29-5	13-3	Elite 8
UMass	1995-96	35-2	15-1	Final Four
Memphis	2000-01	21-15	10-6	NIT Final Four
Memphis	2001-02	27-9	12-4	NIT Champion
Memphis	2002-03	23-7	13-3	NCAA
Memphis	2003-04	22-8	12-4	2nd round
Memphis	2004-05	22-16	9-7	NIT Final Four
Memphis	2005-06	33-4	13-1	Elite 8
College	Overall	341-130	160-66	8 NCAAs, 5 NITs

[edit] NBA Coaching History

Team	Year	Overall Record	Postseason
NJ Nets	1996-97	26-56	None
NJ Nets	1997-98	43-39	0-3
NJ Nets	1998-99	3-17	None
NBA	Overall	72-112

[edit] External links

• Official Website
• Memphis Men's Basketball website

Preceded by Ron Gerlufsen	University of Massachusetts Head Men's Basketball Coach 1988–1996	Succeeded by Bruiser Flint
Preceded by Butch Beard	New Jersey Nets Head Coach 1996–1998	Succeeded by Don Casey
Preceded by Johnny Jones	University of Memphis Head Men's Basketball Coach 2000–present	Succeeded by (current)

Memphis Tigers Head Basketball Coaches
Grantham • DePriest • Barnhard • Curlin • Tarry • Lambert • Vanatta • Ehlers • Iba • Bartow • Yates • Kirk • Finch • Price • Jones • Calipari