Kentucky’s Final Four Run, Through The Eyes Of The Player Who Started It All

Kentucky wasn’t supposed to be playing in the 2011 Final Four this weekend. A first-round loss to Princeton would have been less surprising, and even for the biggest UK homers on the planet, the idea of a National Championship looked pretty far-fetched.

But here we are, and Kentucky’s team of superstar freshmen are suddenly the favorites. And speaking of superstars, I talked to former Kentucky All-American Jamal Mashburn on Thursday afternoon, and he was as surprised as anyone. The former NBA All-Star is in Houston this weekend playing host at the Houston convention center for an event showcasing some of the best upsets in college hoops history, but he didn’t think he’d get to see his alma mater play while he’s there.

“It feels good!” he says. “It was unexpected from my standpoint, and from a lot of people’s standpoint, because of their youth, but they’ve had some guys really step up. Especially the Harrellson kid, and Brandon Knight, who’s really hit some big shots for ‘em. They’ve all matured over the course of the season.”

In case you’ve forgotten, Mashburn was the first superstar recruit to commit to Kentucky under Rick Pitino back in the early-90s, when Kentucky was on probation, and for the first time in decades, greatness didn’t seem like a guarantee. Kentucky wasn’t necessarily dead when Mashburn took a chance and went from New York City to Lexington, but certainly dormant.

And once he got there, everything changed. he carried them to the Elite Eight as a sophomore, and then the Final Four as a junior. And as far as college players go, you won’t find many resumes more impressive than what Jamal Mashburn did at UK.

For instance, here’s one Kentucky fan who remembers a signature performance:

Not possessing of truly outstanding leaping ability or a particularly long wingspan, Mashburn made the most of what he did have: uncommon agility, a boxer’s natural footwork and timing, quick hands and no fear.

Never was this package more fully displayed than in the Sweet 16 of the 1993 NCAA tournament against Wake Forest. Again, while most folks have understandably forgotten his performance, if they ever even saw it, no Kentucky fan over a certain age ever will. ....

Using his whole arsenal on offense, Mashburn—with a little help from his teammates—humiliated Wake Forest, going up 20-4 and never taking the foot off the gas. Mashburn scored 23 first-half points on a perfect 5-for-5 from three-point range and never saw action in the final 10 minutes of the game. But, again, it wasn’t just the statistical evidence that made it memorable. It was more that it was as close to offensive basketball gets to art.

His NBA career was derailed by injuries and he never quite approached the lofty standards of dominance he set at Kentucky, but the legend of Mashburn is a story that too often goes untold. Today, he’s in Miami covering the NBA, but checks in with Kentucky often.

“I stay to real close to UK program,” he says. And as we talk about the surprising run, I mention how clutch Brandon Knight’s been in the NCAA Tournament so far. “Yeah I live down here in Florida and he played in high school down here,” Mashburn says, “so I’ve heard a lot about Brandon Knight, his makeup, and how well he takes care of his off-the-court activities as far as academics are concerned. And I’ve only heard positive things about him, so it’s not a surprise in my book.”

Speaking of high school basketball... Mashburn played his in the Bronx, the same place that produced Kemba Walker, who’s the biggest obstacle standing between UK and UCONN. And for all his ties to Kentucky, Mashburn can’t help but love the hometown kid.

“I actually got to see him in Maui in the early part of the season,” he says. “He took over the game, and you could see a lot of New York City in him. He can get to the basket, attack the rim, multiple moves, very creative... But he’s rare for a New York City guard because he can knock down that jump shot, as well.”

“He’s not that big, but he can play on the ball or off the ball. And throughout the year, he’s become a much better playmaker.” In other words, even someone as biased as Mashburn can see pretty clearly: Kentucky’s going to have their hands full on Saturday.

And then there’s John Calipari... Just about everyone in college basketball has an opinion on Calipari, including Mashburn’s old coach, Pitino, who’s been pretty open about his skepticism. To Mashburn, though, Calipari does things the right way.

“You have both ends of the spectrum with Calipari,” he says when I ask what he thinks about the most polarizing person in college basketball. “But from my standpoint, he reminds me a lot of Coach Pitino and how he was able to recruit players, and be honest with players. He’s a great communicator, and he’s very honest with his players about what he expects from them.”

“And at the end of the day, that’s what players want. They don’t want to have to play games to figure out what a coach is talking about. He’s shown throughout his time at Massachusetts, and then Memphis, and now Kentucky, that he can get players to the pros and they can be successful. So I think a lot of young players gravitate to him.”

Okay, so what about all the coaches that hate Calipari? “As far as other coaches are concerned, a lot of those coaches can’t communicate with players that well, or the ability to recruit those different level guys, the high profile guys, who want to just stay one or two years.”

“A lot of coaches just don’t have that appetite,” he explains, “and don’t understand how to deal with that. So I think he has a one-up on them, and I think there’s a little bit of... Not necessarily jealousy, but a little ‘let’s throw a thorn in his side and say that he’s everything that’s wrong with college basketball.’ I look at it from a different angle. He’s looking out for the kid’s best interest. It’s not always about college basketball, it’s about preparing for the future.”

Coming from Mashburn, it rings especially true. And it may not be enough to make you root for Kentucky, but at the very least, it’s a good explanation of why John Calipari’s program isn’t as evil as it seems. Mashburn has first-hand experience, and if this was all an elaborate con-game, he’d say as much. Nobody would blame him for siding with Pitino in all this.

Finally, we talked about what everyone’s talking about this weekend. That would be the NCAA and amateurism. “There there needs to be a change, he said. Every system evolves if it’s going to have any sustainability. Especially these kids now, they understand the value to a college. If it’s Kentucky, or Syracuse... Whoever. They understand their value, and what they bring to the table. More than just their basketball ability, but how it impacts the university.”

Between selling merchandise and building the public profile of their school, star college athletes like Mashburn in the ‘90s and Brandon Knight today can be worth millions to a school. “So you have to do more than just provide a college scholarship,” he says. “You look up in the stands and you got 24,000 people supporting you, and you go back to your dorm room and you’re eatin’ on a turkey sandwich, trying to bum a ride from somebody... I think that’s a little unfair.”

Mind you, this is all coming from a guy that loves college basketball and loved his time at Kentucky. “I’m a New York City guy, grew up watching the Big East ... And I was a little kid watching, and I remember watching that powerhouse Georgetown team, with nobody thinking Villanova could beat ‘em. And people used to ask me, ‘Did you ever think about going pro out high school?’ But I was going to college no matter what, based on what I watching.”

Listening to Mashburn now, you have to wonder whether he’d feel the same way. Growing up in the 1980s, watching college basketball was different. There was less money being made, and players reveled in the college game just as much as the NBA.

Today, though, the college game has changed. For a college superstar in 2011, it seems like less of a privilege and more of an obligation as they move closer to NBA dreams. And as we get closer to the Final Four, with everyone wondering how in the hell Kentucky got there, listening to one of the greatest players in Kentucky history helps explain it all.

There are three factors in play with Kentucky in 2011:

Players want to play in the NBA, where they can earn what they deserve
John Calipari’s system is the best compromise between those extremes
See, as it becomes more and more obvious that the system is broken, freshmen like Brandon Knight and Terrence Jones have gotten smarter. So of course someone like Jones, a guy who resembles Mashburn better than anyone else in college basketball, would choose UK.

You may not love Kentucky or John Calipari, but Kentucky’s a destination for superstars because John Calipari’s the coach smart enough to give players the freedom to showcase their talent, and with the history and fans underpinning Big Blue Nation, it makes Kentucky the perfect stepping stone to NBA dreams. So it shouldn’t be surprising that they’re in the Final Four, because it can never be surprising for them to make the Final Four. And in some ways, all of this comes back to Jamal Mashburn.

“When he decided to come to Kentucky,” John Calipari said of Mashburn earlier this year, “it got it from the dregs, back to what it was. Jamal Mashburn did it. Jamal changed the direction of this program. He started it.” And this weekend, maybe Calipari will finish it.