University of Kentucky: Blue Dawn

When your university only hangs banners for National Championships in the practice gym you tend to walk with a swagger. But by the end of the 2009 college basketball season the University of Kentucky basketball program had lost its swagger despite all its banners. Enter new head coach John Calipari, an outsider who brought the passion of a convert and whose arrival mark a Blue Dawn, as he taught a team many thought to young how to win and brought back the swagger to the UK hoops. In the 2009-10 NCAA basketball season three of the nation s premier programs would notch win number two thousand. If recent history was any indicator it looked as though the University of Kentucky, college basketball s bluest of blue bloods, would be the odd man out and likely finish last across the historic threshold. Coming off a season filled with controversy and, more importantly, losses, Kentucky fired head coach Billy Gillispie and was looking to rebuild. Not exactly a recipe for beating Kansas and North Carolina to 2000 wins. All that changed in a Kentucky heartbeat when the University hired John Calipari to be its head coach. In no time Calipari had pieced together a team of holdovers and first year recruits that not only would get the Wildcats to 2000 wins before the Jayhawks and Tarheels but would also win the SEC regular season title, take the conference tournament title and roll to the elite eight of the NCAA tournament. Blue Dawn: Inside Coach Cal s First Season, tells the story of the remarkable turnaround and this electrifying season with exclusive behind-the-scenes access. Ride along with Coach Calipari as he shapes a talented but inexperienced team into a threat for the National title and as he molds five of the squad s players into first round picks in the NBA draft. It is a unique view of one of the most compelling stories of the college basketball season.

Price: $19.99

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