INDIANAPOLIS – When No. 2 seed Kentucky and No. 15 seed Saint Peter’s meet in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Thursday, pundits will view the Wildcats as the prohibitive favorite.
But 26 years ago when UK coach John Calipari was recruiting his final class at UMass and Saint Peter’s coach Shaheen Holloway was a star prospect at St. Patrick’s High School in New Jersey, the tables were turned. Calipari signed Holloway’s teammate Winston Smith but did not bother to even put much effort into pursuing Holloway.
“Every kid in the east, your whole goal was to go to the Big East,” Calipari said.