(Photo: Herald-Leader)

John Calipari may have made references to Indiana Basketball during a summer media availability in 2019. Covering a number of topics in a press conference that lasted nearly the whole hour, the Kentucky Wildcat lifetime head coach made some interesting comments about arenas and venues that he would no longer play in.

Specifically, those responses came up after a question around alcohol sales at collegiate venues across the country. You can find the full transcript of that segment below.

For a series that dates back to 1924 and a total of 57 games head-to-head, the Indiana-Kentucky rivalry has been a hot topic ever since Indiana’s head coach Tom Crean and John Calipari could not resolve the issue of selecting venues for the match. The annual non-conference match up was officially ended after Indiana’s upset of over #1 Kentucky on December 10, 2011.

Noteworthy in regards to the transcript below, Hoosier fans stormed the court after the infamous “Wat-Shot” made by Indiana forward Christian Watford. The Hoosiers defeated a number one ranked Kentucky Wildcats team.

John Calipari June 4th 2019 Press Conference (Segment Transcribed)

As mentioned, the following transcript is a response from Kentucky head coach John Calipari on the topic of alcohol sales at college venues.

“I am not a big drinker. I don’t drink much, so… I do before the games, I drink…” said John Calipari jokingly.

“It’s the way of the world right now. I don’t know if we have made a decision on campus. I’ll roll with whatever they want to do. Obviously we have students in that building that are under-aged that shouldn’t be drinking. I would just hope that our fans kind of police each other if they go to that route.”

“Cause I have been in arenas that have been obnoxious. There are teams that we will not play because it was so obnoxious… I am not putting my team, or myself, or my staff, or my family through that.”

“We are not going back there and playing.”

“So I hope that if we do go this route, it doesn’t lead to that.”

“Because we have the classiest fans. We’ve given standing ovations to other players on opposing teams because they have played so well. I am not sure if you totally whacked if you would do that. I just hope it doesn’t change if we go that route. It does not change what we’re about.

“We beat the number one team in our building. Do our fans rush the court? No. No, we are supposed to win. That’s what we’re about.”

“They cheer for us. They don’t boo the other team. They very rarely will. They don’t boo the other coach.”

“We have a unique environment and if it that adds to it and makes it even better. Fine. If it takes away from then I would be disappointed.”

John Calipari June 4th 2019 Press Conference

The John Calipari’s comments begin at the 20:39 mark of the below video. (Please note that the audio is very quiet for this entire press conference.)