John Calipari and the namings to prove it.

Flanked by former teammates and coaches, family and friends, the Kentucky Wildcats’ head men’s basketball coach and 1982 Clarion graduate was honored for the many contributions he and his wife Ellen have made to the university. The playing surface in Tippin Gymnasium was officially renamed the John V. Calipari Court, with the words “Coach Cal Court” emblazoned on the hardwood.

The curriculum vitae for Calipari is familiar even to casual fans of college athletics. Simply put, he is one of the most successful men’s basketball coaches of the last three decades. A 29-year veteran of college basketball coaching, Calipari was a 2015 inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He has guided six teams to the Final Four, led one to a national championship, and helped 54 players earn selection in the NBA Draft during his college coaching career. From UMass to Memphis and ultimately Kentucky, Calipari has been among the very best college coaches in the game for the last three decades.

The roots of Calipari’s story stretch back to western Pennsylvania, where he was a star high school basketball player at Moon High School under another Clarion graduate, Bill Sacco ’66. Calipari started his college playing career at UNC Wilmington before transferring to Clarion in 1981, helping the Golden Eagles reach their first NCAA Division II Tournament in program history that year. He was a key member of Clarion’s 1981-82 team that started the season 7-0 and ranked third in Division II at one point.

“I’ve had a lot of people help me,” Calipari said. “Whether it be my coaches, my teammates or mentors in the profession, I had help. I was carried to that position.”

His hope is that when people ask how he became successful that they’re told, “He started his path (at Clarion). He built his foundation here. He was able to dream big here.”

When Clarion students moved out of campus housing during the pandemic, they were invited to donate unwanted, unopened nonperishable food items, hygiene products and household/cleaning products to the university’s Resource Room.

Students responded generously, donating hundreds of items. The Resource Room provides necessities such as food, deodorant, soap, school supplies, toilet paper and cold weather accessories to students upon request.

“We were blown away by the generosity of our students,” said Meredith Karg, student support assistant.

The fully stocked Resource Room is open and is now named PennWest Pantry for the benefit of students living in campus housing or in the Clarion area. Students can order supplies by filling out the form at clarion.edu/hungry.

There are two ways you can help keep the PennWest Pantry stocked. Check out the Amazon Wishlist https://amzn.to/3Jh9Hop or make a monetary donation at clarion.edu/supportstudents.