Calipari served well by his three early years at Kansas -- The AP reports: John Calipari worked under coach Ted Owens, helping run his summer basketball camp. Brown took over when Owens was fired, and the new coach asked Calipari to stick around. Calipari stayed at Kansas for two more years and met his future wife, Ellen, who worked in the school’s business office. Later, Calipari’s path took him to Pitt as an assistant, the NBA and now the NCAA title game. Over the years, he’s always kept a soft spot for his start at Kansas. “I went out there with two pair of shoes, three pairs of slacks, a blue blazer, three shirts and two ties, happy as hell,” he said. Jayhawks coach Bill Self also apprenticed at Kansas, arriving as a graduate assistant after Calipari left. The two coaches are friends, and Self chuckled at the thought of Calipari working the food line.