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Calipari reaches out to UK boosters

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08:43 AM ET 06.01 | While the basketball world wonders if John Calipari will become the first coach to have two Final Four appearances vacated, the Kentucky coach can be assured of making a more uplifting bit of history this year. He's agreed to become the first UK basketball coach to speak to the Bluegrass Kiwanis Club. Member Paul Bimschleger's competitive spirit led to this bit of history. He noticed that Calipari had agreed to speak to the Lexington Rotary Club in the fall. The next morning, Bimschleger called the UK basketball office. "We were going to raise our hand and say we're not chopped liver," he said. The Lexington Rotary Club has about 400 members, which dwarfs the Bluegrass Kiwanis Club's 45 members. Yet, Bimschleger felt fair was fair. So he called to invite Calipari to speak in either September or October. But deep down, Bimschleger had little hope of the UK coach accepting the invitation. "No one from the basketball office has ever come," he said. "I'm talking even a trainer."

Lexington Herald Leader