John Calipari’s busy Derby weekend

John Calipari has been a VERY busy man during his month and day he’s been the coach at UK, and he’s certainly keeping it up this weekend. Here’s a rundown of what Calipari’s first Derby in the Bluegrass has been like which we are largely able to keep up with thanks to Twitter:

-First, Calipari continued his instructional sessions with current UK players on Friday. Full team practices are not allowed, but he can have sessions with 5 players at a time, continuing his assessment of the current roster. Lonny Demaree of Kentucky Sports Report (subscription req’d) had a chance to watch the last sessions and gained some insight into the statuses of certain players.

First, Jared Carter is no longer involved, presumably meaning he will not pursue a medical hardship waiver at UK. Not surprisingly, neither Donald Williams nor Michael Porter took part, and AJ Stewart was absent at a recent session. The writing has been on the wall about Stewart’s future (or lack thereof) with the team, and this is further confirmation that he does not have a future at UK. Finally, Demaree reports that Josh Harrellson is the “wild card”. It seems to me that his future will be determined based on how the rest of UK’s recruiting class shapes up (Eric Bledsoe and John Wall).

-This morning, Calipari took the train trip to Louisville for his first Derby:

The train to louisville was terrific. First class with excited people. Do all the women have hats on?

-Jeannine Edwards of ESPN then interviewed Coach Cal and was his usual charming self, poking fun at Edwards’ infamous interviews with ex-UK coach Billy Gillispie:

Met Jordan, the Governor, Sen. Williams and some donors. High fived a 1000 people and did an interview w/ Jeannine where we both laughed.

See the difference…

-The whole day for Calipari was filled with meeting famous people and UK donors and potential donors. What a difference it makes to have a coach who relishes this kind of thing instead of just being awkward, especially during times when donors are going to have a hard time parting with any cash at all:

Also met David Novak, ceo of Yum! Joe Craft & the whole train full of people were great.

-Finally, Coach Cal had to leave before the big race to head to Pittsburgh, but it will be a very abbreviated trip since Eric Bledsoe is scheduled to be in Lexington today:

On the way to Pittsburgh. Will be back in Lexington tonight to see a recruit. Will check back in the morning.