document: NCAA tournament : Nobody will dispute that they are great coaches , and the latest evidence lies in the teams they guided to this year 's Final Four . Nobody will argue that John Calipari and Jim Calhoun are saints , either . The men on the sidelines for the Kentucky-Connecticut Final Four matchup have had their share of trouble - with each other , the programs they run and the NCAA . They are a microcosm of everything that 's right and wrong in college basketball - a coach-driven game where good leaders can elevate programs and players to new levels but the road to success often produces its fair share of cringeworthy dealing . Calipari leads the fourth-seeded Wildcats -LRB- 29-8 -RRB- against Calhoun and the third-seeded Huskies -LRB- 30-9 -RRB- in the second semifinal Saturday . Both coaches coaxed a turnaround out of their young , struggling teams to make unexpected trips to the game 's biggest stage - the third for Calipari and fourth for Calhoun . On the eve of the game , their histories were as lively a topic as the success of their teams . One of the first questions Calipari fielded Friday was whether he is the 2000 '' `` s version of former UNLV coach Jerry Tarkanian , a coach who did a lot of winning in his day but did it with his phone number firmly entrenched on the NCAA 's speed dial . The question slid off the Wildcats coach as smoothly as good Kentucky bourbon . '' `` I respect everything that Jerry did - his kids , how they played , all those things , '' '' Calipari said . '' `` But , no , I think I 'm the 2011 John Calipari . I do n't know what that means , and I hate to talk in the third party . But I am who I am . '' '' Calipari is back in Houston , where three years ago he won two games at the regional to lead Memphis to the Final Four , only to leave that school a year later , just as the program was running into NCAA problems involving the recruitment of Derrick Rose . Calipari 's first Final Four visit , with Massachusetts back in 1996 , also has been scrubbed by the NCAA . Which led to another tongue-in-cheek question : How does it feel to be coaching in your first Final Four ? '' `` I do n't deal with that , '' '' said the 52-year-old coach , who spent four years in the NBA between his stints at UMass and Memphis . '' `` We 've been here three times . Those players played those games and did what they were supposed to . I 'm so proud of what they 've all accomplished . '' '' He says this without apology . Though his schools suffered , Calipari was not found at fault in either of the NCAA probes . The so-called problems between Cal and Cal began during those UMass days , when the coaches were on top of each other in neighboring states - one trying to protect his turf and the other trying to carve out his own . The 68-year-old Calhoun lightheartedly reprised the complaints he raised more than a decade ago about Calipari - a Pittsburgh native trying to muscle his way through New England - but made it clear the enmity has died down as the years have passed . '' `` From a generational standpoint , to the fact that John really was trying to claim New England , '' '' Calhoun said of the lack of a true friendship with his counterpart . Then , he affected his best Boston accent : '' `` He could never say he pahked the caah in Hahvahd Yahd , he did n't know what clam chowder really was . I took -LRB- umbrage -RRB- to it , but I take -LRB- umbrage -RRB- to a lot of things . '' ''
extractive_keyphrases: calipari kentuckyconnecticut turnaround tongueincheek clear huskies young four accomplished dispute involving day stage muscle latest passed great coaches chowder generational standpoint games teams tournament fielded sidelines firmly entrenched running unexpected trouble neighboring began during struggling players supposed affected enmity apology lightheartedly reprised semifinal program evidence dealing scrubbed complaints guided share question argue decade coaxed regional proud