Rating:

5.0 (1 vote)

Scott Padgett is one of the good guys. Now an assistant at Manhattan, the former UK star who played a major role in UK winning the NCAA Championship in 1998, wants to someday come back to UK and coach.

Padgett, as True Blue Fans know, talked his way onto Cal's staff as an assistant strength coach.

Although Padgett has been around some of the games finest coaches, there was plenty he learned from working for Cal.

"I think (Calipari) was great at three things," Padgett told CoachCal.com.

"He was great at motivating players. He knew what buttons to push. I think he was great at marketing the program, and in this day and age with recruiting, that's almost as important as coaching. And then I think he got guys that would be stars at other places to buy into a team concept. Not only did they not bicker and not fight, they loved each other and they went to battle for each other. That's hard to do, especially in today's society."

It's very hard. Might be the toughest thing college coaches have to do. After Cal got John Wall and Eric Bledsoe to play together, when they both wanted to play point guard, nothing he does as far as bringing players together will ever surprise me. Plus, Wall and Bledsoe are like brothers.

"He did it sometimes through pushing a button and sometimes by coddling a guy. I've been under coaches who they only believe beat them down until they're in submission. I think there are some kids that can't handle that. Sometimes if you want to get the best out of them, you have to put your arm around them. I think he knew when to do both.

Padgett is great with people. You can see him becoming a head basketball coach at a major college.