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Kentucky's charismatic coach shares the secrets of creating one of the premiere programs in college basketball, revealing how he transforms a group of former high school superstars into selfless, cohesive teams - including a remarkable squad last year that fell just one game short of a perfect season.Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari is known for his unparalleled ability to recruit the nation's best young players, some of whom will spend just one year with him before going to the NBA, and convincing them to commit to the team without sacrificing their personal goals. It is a promise he makes to them: "Fully invest in the present - and each other - and I guarantee it will serve your future." Here, for the first time, he distills his team-building methods in ways that apply to CEOs, business owners, coaches, teachers and leaders of all kinds - lessons for anyone seeking to inspire talented individuals to reach for their best selves and contribute to a greater good. A basketball team is an intimate workplace, in which blend is everything and character matters. As such, it is a window into the nature of successful leadership. Calipari views each new team like a startup business - one composed of new players, new relationships, and new challenges. Each season is a series of discoveries as he learns how to unleash the extreme talent in each of his players and mold them into championship material as college basketball comes to a crescendo every spring. While he can't control everything, he is responsible for everything - just like a CEO.An enlightening look at leadership, management, and team building, Success Is the Only Option offers the keys to winning, on and off the court.
About the Author
John Vincent Calipari (born February 10, 1959) is an American basketball coach. Since April 2009, he has been the men's head coach at Kentucky. He was the head coach of the Dominican Republic national team in 2011 and 2012. Calipari is the former head coach of the University of Memphis Tigers, the University of Massachusetts Minutemen, and the National Basketball Association's New Jersey Nets. Calipari has officially been to 3 Final Fours, all three with Kentucky (2011, 2012, 2014) . He had previously led UMass in 1996 and Memphis in 2008 to the Final Four, but those appearances were later vacated. Consequently, Calipari is the only head coach to have Final Four appearances vacated at more than one school, although Calipari himself was not personally implicated by the NCAA in either case. As a college coach, Calipari has 20 (19 officially) 20-win seasons, 8 (7 officially) 30-win seasons, and has been named National Coach of the Year 3 times. Calipari is widely regarded as one of the best recruiters in college basketball history. In the 2011-12 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, Calipari led Kentucky to its 8th NCAA Tournament Championship, and the first of his career. From 1982 to 1985, Calipari was an assistant at the University of Kansas under Ted Owens and Larry Brown. From 1985 to 1988, he was an assistant coach at the University of Pittsburgh under Paul Evans. From 1988 to 1996, he was head coach at the University of Massachusetts. From 1996 to 1999, he was head coach and Executive VP of basketball operations for the NBA's New Jersey Nets. During the 1999-2000 season, he was an assistant coach for the Philadelphia 76ers under coach Larry Brown, before moving on to his next position at the University of Memphis. He was inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in 2004. In his 21 official seasons (22 seasons overall, 21 official, with one entire season later being vacated) as a collegiate head coach, Calipari's record is 548-171 (.762) . His record in the month of March is 98-37 (.726) . His record in the NCAA tournament is 38-13 (.745) , and in the NIT is 15-6 (.714) . His teams have made 14 NCAA tournament appearances (12 official, due to 2 later being vacated) , including reaching the Sweet Sixteen 11 times (9 official, due to 2 later being vacated) , the Elite Eight 9 times (7 official, due to 2 later being vacated) , the Final Four 4 times (2 official, due to 2 later being vacated) , the NCAA Championship Game twice (once officially, with the 2008 Championship Game appearance while at Memphis being vacated by the NCAA) , winning the NCAA Championship at Kentucky in 2012. As a college coach, Calipari has 19 20-win seasons (18 official) and 8 30-win seasons (7 official) . He has also coached 6 teams to the NIT, winning the NIT Championship at Memphis in 2002. He is one of only four coaches in NCAA Division I history to direct three different schools to a #1 seed in the NCAA Tou
