From Booklist:
Calipari is the newly hired coach and general manager of the NBA's New Jersey Nets, a post he obtained as a result of resurrecting the University of Massachusetts basketball program. This is his personal account of how he took the UMass Minutemen from basketball laughing stock to the Final Four in just eight seasons and subsequently landed the most lucrative coaching position ever awarded to a person with no NBA experience. Like many college coaches, Calipari succeeded more by creating a winning atmosphere than by on-the-court strategy. The road wasn't without pitfalls, though, including a bitter feud with Temple coach John Chaney that left both men embarrassed. Though this isn't as inspirational as Northwestern football coach Gary Barnett's recent High Hopes , it offers an entertaining and informative glimpse inside the creation of a successful major-college sports program. Expect significant demand, especially on the Eastern seaboard. Wes Lukowsky
From Publishers Weekly:
Having worked as an assistant at Kansas and Pitt, Calipari took over the basketball program at the University of Massachusetts in 1988, after the school had recorded 10 straight losing seasons. Adopting the motto that he and coauthor Weiss (Full Court Pressure) also use for this conventional autobiography, Calipari proved himself a fine motivator of young players and an astute manipulator of television to publicize UMass's increasingly successful organization. Each year, his teams improved on the record of the previous season, climaxing in 1996, when his players had a 35-2 record, were ranked first in the nation for much of the season and went to the NCAA's Final Four. The star, Marcus Camby, was judged the best in the nation, and Calipari himself was chosen coach of the year by at least four court groups. He is now poised to take over the NBA's hapless New Jersey Nets. Photos not seen by PW. Author tour.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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