UK head coach John Calipari has won the inaugural Nell and Wooden Leadership award. In a statement, Cal shows his class by telling how honored he is to receive anything from John Wooden’s daughter.
“You think about it, just being thrown in a situation where Coach Wooden’s daughter gives me an award, are you kidding me?” Calipari said during a radio interview with Mike Wise. “I don’t even care what the award is. That for me is really special.”
“I just have so much respect (for Coach Wooden),” Calipari said. “When you hear his former players talk about him, he was the first players’ coach where it was a players-first program even though he disciplined, even though he had certain standards that had to be met and all those things. It was about the players, and it was always about them.”
