Travels with Cal | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

John Calipari, the new University of Arkansas men’s basketball coach, took the long route from Hot Springs to Pine Bluff.

Through Pittsburgh.

After the Razorbacks had an open practice and fan event in Hot Springs on Saturday, Calipari immediately left Bank OZK Arena and flew to Pittsburgh.

Calipari, who is from Moon Township, Pa., 12 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, returned home to conduct a coaching clinic for a friend.

After arriving in Pittsburgh about 10 p.m. on Saturday — too late to get his favorite local pizza, he lamented — Calipari met his coaches at Moon Area High School and Clarion (Pa.) State for breakfast early Sunday morning.

Calipari next visited his aunt for 30 minutes at a rehab center, spoke at the coaches’ clinic, got back on a plane and flew to Pine Bluff, arriving about 1:15 p.m.

After Calipari attended a Samaritan’s Feet event in which Arkansas’ players took part in meeting with area school children and donating shoes, he interacted with fans — signing autographs and posing for photos — at the Pine Bluff Convention Center before holding an open practice.

“Look, I’d rather be moving,” Calipari, 65, said after Sunday’s practice of his hectic schedule. “Sometimes I think I’m, like, 32, and I just keep going.

“And then when I go home, you know, I sleep really good. But this was a great day.”

Last Thursday Calipari spoke at the at The Summit leadership luncheon at Cross Church in Rogers. That night he was in Little Rock to speak at the Catholic High School annual alumni dinner.

Calipari is a devout Catholic, as is Joe Kleine, the former Arkansas All-Southwest Conference center who played 15 seasons in the NBA, including for the New Jersey Nets during the 1996-97 season when Calipari was their coach.

This past summer Kleine asked Calipari to speak at the Little Rock Catholic dinner.

“Joe asked me if I believed in free speech,” Calipari said when he met with media members before the dinner. “And I said, ‘I absolutely believe in free speech.’ And he said, ‘Good, you’re giving one at Catholic High School in Little Rock.’ “

Kleine, who co-owns two Corky’s barbecue restaurants in Little Rock and North Little Rock, laughed when Calipari’s line was repeated to him.

“Cal brought that one up himself,” Kleine said. “I wish I would have come up with that. It was a great line.

“The speech was great, too. He knocked it out of the park. He was awesome.”

Calipari was asked the key to handling his hectic travel schedule at an age when some people are retiring.

“I work out every day, I get my sleep, I get my rest,” he said. “I’m not into a whole lot of other things.

“You’re not going to see me hanging out much. I’ve got my wife, and I’ve got my dog. I’m into what I do, and whatever I have to do.

“When you have stuff and you have a long day, just pick up one foot, and keep doing it. Next foot, and next foot, and then when you’re done.

“You’re exhausted. But if you feel great about your exhaustion, you’ll do it again the next day.”

Calipari said having a positive mental approach helps.

“I figured out early, I’m going to enjoy it, and figure out ways to enjoy it, and just keep moving on and go and go and go,” he said. “And have people, like, ‘How do you stay up with him?’

“I think our age is what we think it is. Being around young people, I feel young all the time. Probably why I want to keep coaching.”

Kleine said it’s impressive how Calipari juggles his off-the-court commitments with coaching and maintains a strong faith spiritually he’s not afraid to share.

“He’s got his priorities right, that’s for sure,” Kleine said. “I think he’s very passionate about what he believes in on and off the court. I think that’s what drives him.

“I think you need to have a strong passion to do the schedule that he does. He’s very loyal to his faith. He’s very loyal to his friends. He’s extremely loyal to his coaches and players.”

Calipari’s on-court record is 855-263 in 32 seasons as a college coach, highlighted by winning the 2012 national championship at Kentucky and having three other Final Four teams with the Wildcats and one Final Four team each at Massachusetts and Memphis. He has coached 58 NBA draft picks, including 21 first-rounders.

“When you’ve been around as long as Cal has, there are a lot of friends, there are a lot of former players, there are a lot of former coaches,” Kleine said. “There are a lot of people pulling at your string. Especially when you’re such a successful coach as he has been, and he has a great presence where people want to talk to him.

“I just think that he’s very loyal to all these people, and they come after him for help, he does what he can for them. I definitely admire that about him.

“He has a built-in excuse for everything, because he’s a busy man. But he tries to accommodate people as much as he can. That’s rare these days, man.”

Calipari said he’s always been about more than coaching basketball.

“If I sit in the office and watch tape, if it’s all about just the program … it’s about our state,” Calipari said. “It’s about the people in our state. The Samaritan’s Feet shows you, there’s a lot of need in this state.

“And if we can fill a void and make people feel good and create hope, why wouldn’t you do it?

“Ah, (people will say) you’re making it about other stuff. … It’s what I’ve done my whole career. And we’ve done OK, and I think we’ve made a lot of people feel good.”

Calipari will be traveling again Tuesday when he appears at SEC media days in Mountain Brook, Ala., a suburb Birmingham, Ala., suburb of Mountain Brook. Also representing the Razorbacks will be guard Johnell Davis and forward Adou Thiero.

“You know where I’ll be Tuesday. I’ve got to go to Birmingham,” Calipari said less than enthusiastically.

A reporter pointed out to Calipari that he “gets to go to Birmingham.”

Calipari smiled.

“No, I don’t want to go to Birmingham,” he said. “But I’m forced to go to Birmingham. I’d have to pay a fine, or I wouldn’t go.”

Kleine said that as Kentucky’s coach the previous 15 seasons, Calipari was unpopular with most every other fanbase because of the Wildcats’ success.

“Like I told people years ago when, they’d start talking about Cal, about how they didn’t like him, I’d say, ‘I get it. He’s Darth Vader,’ ” Kleine said, referring to the villain of the “Star Wars” movies. “Then I’d say, ‘But have you ever had lunch with him? You’d love him, because he’s a good dude.’ “