John Calipari says Harrisons stayed in semifinal loss out of loyalty

Josh Peter | USA TODAY Sports

LOS ANGELES — Coach John Calipari said his loyalty to guards Andrew and Aaron Harrison last season may have cost Kentucky a shot at the national championship and a 40-0 record.

Speaking at a basketball coaches clinic on Sunday, Calipari noted he stuck with the Harrison twins, then sophomores, rather than play Devin Booker and Tyler Ulis, then freshmen, when Kentucky faltered down the stretch against Wisconsin in the semifinal game of the 2015 Final Four.

“Now you may say, ‘Why didn’t you have Tyler and Devin in at the end of the Wisconsin game? You probably would have won,’ ’’ Calipari said during his hour-long talk. “Because I was being loyal to those other two who led us to a championship game a year ago and they deserve to be on that court. That’s why I did it. I knew who was playing well and who was struggling. You think I wasn’t sitting there watching?

“But I owed it to those two (the Harrison twins) to do it.’’

Kentucky went ahead 58-56 on Aaron Harrison’s layup with 7:51 to play. But the Harrisons missed seven of their final eight shots from the floor as Wisconsin pulled away for a 71-64 victory that ended Kentucky’s season at 38-1.

The Harrisons, who both started the game, combined for 10-of-21 shooting from the floor, 4-for-4 from the free throw line and had one steal and one turnover. Booker and Ulis, who were on the court about half as long as the Harrison twins, combined for 5-of-10 shooting from the floor, shot no free throws and had two steals and no turnovers.

Calipari went on Twitter to clarify his comments Monday afternoon after this story had been published:

Let me make this clear: The twins dragged us to a Final 4 in 2014 & led us to 38 straight wins & a Final 4 in 2015. I LOVED coaching them. — John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) September 28, 2015

It never entered my mind to sub those two in that game or any other game late. — John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) September 28, 2015

It never entered my mind to sub those two in that game or any other game late. — John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) September 28, 2015

“At the end of the day,’’ Calipari said Sunday, “I just ask you this, ‘Who won the national title three years ago? Two years ago? Six years ago?’’

There were no answers from the crowd of about 200 coaches.

“Who won their first 38 games?’’ Calipari said. “Twenty years from now, they’re going to say, what team did that 38 and 0 at the start of the season? You’ll go, ‘Oh, that’s Kentucky.’ ”

The Harrisons left after the season to pursue professional basketball. Andrew Harrison was selected by the Phoenix Suns with the 44th pick overall in the NBA draft, and then traded to Memphis, and Aaron signed as an undrafted free agent with the Charlotte Hornets. In all, five players from last year’s team were taken in the NBA draft and Calipari indicated that seven will be in the NBA and three other top players who returned to Kentucky this year will make the NBA next season.

“It was a helluva year and no one will take that away,’’ Calipari said.