John Vincent Calipari (born February 10, 1959, in Moon Township (A suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States) is a former professional and current college basketball coach. Since 2000, he has been the head coach of the University of Memphis men's basketball team. Calipari 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 1999-2000 season, he was an assistant coach for the Philadelphia 76ers under coach Larry Brown, before moving on to his current position at the University of Memphis. He was inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.
In his first 15 seasons as a collegiate head coach, Calipari's record is 374-134 (.736). His record in the month of March is 75-29 (.721). His record in the NCAA tournament is 18-9 (.667) and in the NIT is 15-5 (.750). He has made nine NCAA tournaments, the Sweet Sixteen five times, the Elite Eight four times, and the Final Four one time. He has made five NITs, with one championship at Memphis in 2002. He is one of only three coaches in NCAA Division I history to direct two different schools to a number one seed in the NCAA Tournament; Roy Williams and Bill Self are the others.
Through 15 collegiate seasons, only North Carolina coach Roy Williams has 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.
From 1988-96 at UMass, Calipari led the Minutemen program to a number of conference titles and NCAA Tournament appearances, including periods where the program was ranked first nationally. He finished with a 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 as he lead UMass to its first-ever appearance in the Final Four (where it lost to eventual champion Kentucky).
Calipari helped accelerate the construction of the Mullins Center, UMass' basketball and hockey facility. He also reached out to eastern Massachusetts and Boston to enlarge the fan base. Before moving on to the New Jersey Nets, Calipari became the second most winningest coach in UMass history.
Calipari directing his players during an away game against Conference USA rival University of Houston in January of 2007.
In Calipari's first seven years as head coach at Memphis, he won 181 games, posted seven straight 20-win seasons and earned seven consecutive postseason bids. He set the school record with 33 victories in 2005-2006, and tied it in 2006-2007. Calipari's 181 victories and 25.9 wins per year are the most by a Tiger coach in his first seven seasons. The seven consecutive 20-win seasons are the most for the Tigers since 1982-89 and the seven consecutive postseason appearances are the most in school history. 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 Memphis Tigers basketball.[citation needed] He has built a national program by recruiting blue chip players from all across the country, such as Derrick Rose from Chicago (IL), Shawne Williams from Memphis (TN), Darius Washington Jr. from Orlando (FL), and Dajuan Wagner from Camden (NJ).
At Memphis, Calipari has popularized the Memphis Attack offense that was invented by Pepperdine basketball coach, Vance Walberg. [1] [2] [3]
|
School |
Year |
Overall Record |
Conference Record |
Postseason |
|
1988-89 |
10-18 |
5-13 |
None |
|
|
1989-90 |
17-14 |
10-8 |
NIT First Round |
|
|
1990-91 |
20-13 |
10-8 |
NIT Fourth Place |
|
|
1991-92 |
30-5 |
13-3 |
NCAA Sweet 16 |
|
|
1992-93 |
24-7 |
11-3 |
NCAA Second Round |
|
|
1993-94 |
28-7 |
14-2 |
NCAA Second Round |
|
|
1994-95 |
29-5 |
13-3 |
NCAA Elite 8 |
|
|
1995-96 |
35-2 |
15-1 |
NCAA Final Four |
|
|
2000-01 |
21-15 |
10-6 |
NIT Third Place |
|
|
2001-02 |
27-9 |
12-4 |
||
|
2002-03 |
23-7 |
13-3 |
NCAA First Round |
|
|
2003-04 |
22-8 |
12-4 |
NCAA Second Round |
|
|
2004-05 |
22-16 |
9-7 |
NIT Semifinals |
|
|
2005-06 |
33-4 |
13-1 |
NCAA Elite 8 |
|
|
2006-07 |
33-4 |
16-0 |
NCAA Elite 8 |
|
|
TOTAL |
15 Seasons |
374-134 |
176-66 |
9 NCAAs, 5 NITs |
|
Team |
Year |
Overall Record |
Postseason |
|
26-56 |
None |
||
|
43-39 |
|||
|
3-17 |
None |
||
|
NBA |
Overall |
72-112 |
|