John Calipari donates $1 million to charity

John Calipari is no stranger to being in the news and is no stranger to having mud slung at his name.

But that is what happens when you run a program the way Calipari runs a program. He lives on the edge, routinely recruiting kids with questionable backgrounds, some of whom seem completely unaware of the mores of our society. We are all aware of the results -- two vacated Final Fours and the current scandal involving Eric Bledsoe.

Finding people that hate -- or media that hates on -- Calipari is not a difficult thing to do.

And while we can argue all day about John Calipari the basketball coach, John Calipari the man isn't all bad. From the Memphis Commercial-Appeal:

John Calipari still has a few fans left in Memphis, at least at the Streets Ministries organization.

The former University of Memphis basketball coach has donated $1 million -- payable over five years -- to the group that works to help underprivileged children in Memphis.

No matter how you slice it, $1 million is a lot of money. There are a lot of folks out there that hate Calipari -- and I'm sure there are quite a few of them in Memphis -- and I have no problem with that. But you must also be able to commend him on this. $1 million is likely more money than I will make before I'm 40, and he is giving it away to a charity he believes in. Granted, Kentucky is paying him quite nicely (8 years, $35 million), but this is still a gesture that deserves a tip of the cap. How many of you would buy the homeless guy on your corner a McDonalds breakfast?

This isn't the first time he has donated either:

"When I've talked to Cal in the past, he said he's probably given money back to every city he's lived in," Streets founder Ken Bennett said Tuesday.
...
Calipari couldn't be reached for comment, but issued a statement: "(My wife) Ellen and I are constantly looking for alliances that serve our mission of helping underprivileged children in both Kentucky and Memphis. We're thrilled to be able to help Streets Ministries and Ken Bennett in any way we can."

That last statement makes you wonder.

Think about the Eric Bledsoe situation like this. Here's a kid that grew up incredibly poor (this message board says that his family lived out of their car). So poor that his mother couldn't afford to pay $400 a month in rent, which is why his head coach gave him money. Coach Cal takes a chance on this kid that most expected to end up a junior college, and allows him to show off his ability to the point that he is considered a potential lottery pick.

Bledsoe fits the definition of an underprivileged kid to a T. He was cleared by the NCAA -- whether or not he got his grades in line legally isn't the point -- and Cal turned him into a young man that is potentially facing a hefty payday.

What if Cal took the risk on Bledsoe because he knew it would help a young man in a bad, bad situation?

I'm not saying I believe it, but its a possibility, right?

Anyway, my point is that you can hate Coach Cal for the way he does his job, and I'm not going to stop you. But if he's donating $1 million to charity, maybe he actually isn't that terrible of a person.