ROGERS — John Calipari, while speaking at The Summit leadership luncheon at Cross Church, traced many of his recruiting and staff-building philosophies back to Pat Nardelli.
"You have no idea who Pat Nardelli is," he said.
Nardelli is someone Calipari knew in his youth. He gave a high school Calipari and his friends pizza dinners and other things as they grew into adulthood. Nardelli was the owner of a nearby strip mall — "We thought he was the wealthiest guy in the world," Calipari said.
Calipari and Nardelli went to lunch shortly after the former took the Massachusetts head coaching job when was 28 years old — "I think," he said.