No. 1 Kentucky has forfeited its game against No. 2 Michigan State set for Tuesday night in Chicago.
Well, not really.
But Kentucky coach John Calipari joked about his exchange with MSU coach Tom Izzo regarding that possibility.
“I text[ed] him and I said, ‘I officially forfeit the game so you can go to Chicago and shop. We’re not very good right now,'” Calipari said after his top-ranked team beat Northern Kentucky, 93-63.
“Then he called me back and we were laughing,” Calipari added.
Calipari and Izzo have had an entertaining back-and-forth entering Tuesday’s game in the Champions Classic.
Calipari said last week that the game was “unfair” to his team because it is composed almost entirely of freshmen and sophomores — many of whom are projected as future first-round picks.
“The issue becomes playing teams [like Michigan State] this early is not fair for my team,” Calipari said Thursday. “It may be fair for everybody else. But it’s not fair for my team. …It’s just not traditional in the sense everybody stays four years. So it’s not fair when we walk in and everybody else is more experienced.”
Izzo, in turn, responded: “I agree, I think he should forfeit. If Johnny doesn’t want to play it, I’ll take a win.”
Izzo added: “I think he’s trying to fool you media guys — I know and you know you’re too smart for that. But John must not know that.”
So here we are.
Two days before a game between No. 1 and No. 2 and both coaches are joking about potential forfeits.
However, with the way freshman Julius Randle has played so far, Kentucky probably shouldn’t forfeit.
The 6-foot-9 Randle has put up 45 points and 29 rebounds in Kentucky’s first two games, including 22 and 14 on Sunday.
“He should be averaging 20 rebounds a game right now,” Calipari said.
The Champions Classic — which also features Jabari Parker and No. 4 Duke against Andrew Wiggins and No. 5 Kansas — has attracted some 80 NBA personnel and should provide a fascinating glimpse of where all four teams are at this early juncture.
“Kansas is a good team, Duke is a good team, Michigan State is a good team,” Calipari said. “They’re all good teams and they’re well-coached, well-coached. This is not like you’re going to steal, sneak by, you’re going to have to ball.
“And it’s just a bar of where we are right now and we’ve got a long way to go.”
**For previous articles on Andrew Wiggins, click here.
