John Calipari was born in Moon Township, Pennsylvania on February 10, 1959. He played basketball for two years at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington before transferring to Clarion University, where he played point guard from 1981 to 1982. He graduated with a degree in marketing. In the 1980s, he held assistant positions at the University of Kansas and the University of Pittsburgh before becoming head coach at the University of Massachusetts in 1988. From 1996 to 1999 he was head coach and Executive VP of basketball operations for the New Jersey Nets. He was an assistant coach for the Philadelphia 76ers from 1999 to 2000. His next two roles have been head coach for the University… of Memphis followed by the University of Kentucky. He has won numerous awards throughout his coaching career, including 1992 Eastern Basketball Coach of the Year; 1993, 1994, and 1996 Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year; 2006, 2008, and 2009 C-USA Coach of the Year; 1996 and 2008 Naismith National Coach of the Year; and 2009 NABC Co-Coach of the Year, Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year, and Sports Illustrated National Coach of the Year. In 2004 he was inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame. He is the author of several books including Refuse to Lose, Bounce Back: Overcoming Setbacks to Succeed in Business and in Life, and Players First: Coaching from the Inside Out.
Michael Sokolove is a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine and the author of three previous books: The Ticket Out, Hustle, and Warrior Girls. He lives in Bethesda, Maryland.