Former Cats can revel in 2011 run

When John Calipari was introduced as Kentucky's 22nd men's basketball coach April 1, 2009, he said he wanted to "add to the wall" of the Wildcats' seven national championship banners.

At his first Big Blue Madness, Calipari vowed to return UK to its rightful place atop college basketball.

After a disappointing and abrupt end to his first season in Lexington, Calipari has his Cats setting up base camp in Houston at its first Final Four in 13 years and a mere two wins away from the school's eighth national championship.

That's a far cry from where the program was two short years ago.

Two short years ago, Kentucky missed the NCAA Tournament and played in the NIT for the first time in 17 seasons, fading further and further not only into obscurity but also away from its past glory.

Wisconsin, Arizona, Oklahoma, Indiana, Marquette, Texas, Syracuse, Georgia Tech, Oklahoma State, Louisville, Illinois, LSU, George Mason, Georgetown, Memphis, Villanova, Butler and West Virginia had all been to the Final Four since UK had last played on college basketball's biggest stage.

Michigan State (six), Duke (four), North Carolina (four), Kansas (three), UCLA (three), UConn (three), Florida (three), Ohio State (two) and Maryland (two) had all been to multiple Final Four's. The Blue Devils, Tar Heels, Huskies and Gators each with two national titles.

UK's current crop of 2011 signees were all of five-years-old the last time the Wildcats played on college basketball's final weekend. Kentucky had played 449 games since last playing one in a Final Four. A total of 58 players had come through the program. The Cats were slowly becoming an also ran in the program of college basketball.

But this improbable run hasn't simply been Calipari's magic.

It's only fitting that holdovers from that 2009 NIT team--Josh Harrellson, DeAndre Liggins and Darius Miller--that were part of one of the program's lowest points in recent memory have also become instrumental in taking it to one of its highest heights.

Since arriving on campus, Calipari has said repeatedly that UK is a players-first program, stating that the players who don the blue and white are the lifeblood of the program. Calipari also helped foster a more family-like atmosphere around the program that had been missing for some years, welcoming back former players with open arms.

If you asked Calipari himself, I'm sure he would tell you: this is for Tayshaun Prince and Keith Bogans. This is for Chuck Hayes, Cliff Hawkins, Gerald Fitch and Erik Daniels. This is for Rajon Rondo, Joe Crawford and Ramel Bradley. This is for Patrick Patterson--all guys that, while certainly deserving of so, never tasted a Final Four during their careers at Kentucky.

Even still, Final Four or no Final Four, the program still stands on the shoulders of those players. The lifeblood of the program.