The morning before John Calipari was introduced as Arkansas basketball coach, I reached out to Ron Higgins, a media friend who had worked many years in the Memphis market. I wanted perspective on Calipari as a coach.
I got a completely different take on Calipari than expected. Oh, there was the stuff about his ability to recruit and coach elite talent. Higgins saw the Memphis Tigers jump to the next level as they quickly loaded a roster with McDonald’s All-America studs.
But what I got from Higgins was not about basketball, it was about Calipari the person, the man who gives back to the community.