Jaylen Brown’s college recruitment was one of the most highly followed stories in the country back in 2015. As a five-star prospect and one of the top players in his class, Brown had offers from nearly every major program in the nation. But nearly a decade later, the Boston Celtics star revealed a hilarious and slightly awkward story from that process involving legendary Kentucky head coach John Calipari.
During a recent livestream, Brown shared that Calipari didn’t exactly take the news of his decision to attend Cal-Berkeley very well.
“Heard I wasn’t coming to Kentucky and I appreciate him. He said ‘whoop’ and hung up the phone. It wasn’t no ‘I appreciate you,’ no ‘good luck.’ It was nothing.”
“Who else? Bill Self from Kansas. He kind of banged it on me. It wasn’t like Calipari did, though. Calipari banged it on me with the swiftness. He was like, ‘next,’ like I got another joint waiting. He wasn’t stunting none of it. So he kind of banged it on me too.”
Brown’s story paints a vivid picture of how competitive college recruiting can be, even for the coaches. For Calipari, who had built Kentucky into a recruiting powerhouse, losing out on a talent like Brown wasn’t just a disappointment; it was a rare occurrence.
Brown, however, said the decision to go to Cal wasn’t just about basketball. He wanted a balance between academics, personal growth, and basketball, and he felt Berkeley was the right fit for him, even if others didn’t agree.
“When I took an official, Drake was there. He was the one when he airballed the shot: Big Blue Madness. They pulled out all the stops. They pulled out all the stops. And it was like, Kentucky was just not a… I don’t know, it wasn’t a place for me.”
The “Drake airball” moment Brown mentioned was a viral highlight (or lowlight) from the Wildcats’ annual Big Blue Madness event in 2014, where the rapper famously missed a warm-up jumper. Despite the star-studded recruiting atmosphere, Brown said he just didn’t feel at home in Lexington.
While the interaction was awkward at the time, Brown looked back on it with humor. The now seven-time NBA All-Star went on to spend just one season at Cal, averaging 14.6 points and 5.4 rebounds before declaring for the 2016 NBA Draft, where he was selected third overall by the Boston Celtics.
Looking back, it’s hard to blame Calipari for being frustrated. Brown went on to become one of the best two-way players in the NBA and a cornerstone for one of the league’s most successful franchises. But his recollection also highlights the human side of recruiting, where emotions run high, relationships form fast, and sometimes, goodbyes are as abrupt as a dial tone.
For Jaylen Brown, though, the choice clearly worked out. He became an All-Star, an NBA champion, and one of the brightest minds and voices in basketball. For Calipari? He kept recruiting five-stars, but it’s safe to say Jaylen Brown is one that still stings a little.
