Everyone loves a good homecoming, and this Kentucky basketball team is nothing short of excited to play in their backyard.
Kentucky basketball head coach John Calipari loves a player who will work hard. It makes sense considering his background. In Wednesday’s NCAA Tournament press conference, he spoke about how this mentality was instilled in him at a young age.
“You were taught, there’s nothing in this world that’s going to be given to you. You’re going to have to go take what you want, and if you don’t work, you will not eat,” Calipari said.
This is the way many folks who grew up in Pittsburgh were brought up, including Calipari. This week, he and his team will be playing in his hometown to try and win another national championship.
A Moon Township native, Calipari got his coaching start as an assistant at the University of Pittsburgh, a place he still holds close to his heart.
“My time at Pitt was special to me. It’s where I got my first full-time job,” Calipari said.
While he might be on a business trip this week, he still enjoys coming home to relive his childhood.
“I love coming back. I’ll probably take the tour of my grandparents’ house and my other grandparents and our house where I grew up and the high school and my aunts and uncles and cousins.
Coach Calipari isn’t the only one who’s coming home for the Big Dance, however. Senior forward Tre Mitchell and freshman guard Adou Thiero are also Steel City natives. Both Wildcats say they’re excited for family and friends in the area to come out and catch the game.
“I’m super excited to play at home. I got people texting me who haven’t seen me play since I was just a little kid telling me that they’re coming to the game,” Thiero said.
Mitchell, who enters his final collegiate season, says this is a great way to wrap up his college playing career.
“It means the world to be back home in my final year of college basketball and on this team, and kind of being able to have people around me kind of see this moment come full circle,” Mitchell says.
Despite the happy homecoming, Kentucky knows there’s still a game to be played and coach Calipari is anxious to matchup against his friend Greg Kampke and Oakland University.
“We’re playing a good team now in Oakland. They’re good…Greg is a great coach, not a good coach, a great coach,” Calipari said.
Kentucky will face Oakland Thursday night at 7 p.m. on CBS.